LIVES 



CLERGY OF NEW YORK 



BROOKLYN: 



E3IBKACING 



Two Hundred Biographies of Eminent Living Men 
in all Denominations. 



ALSO, THE 



HISTORY OF EACH SECT AND CONGREGATION. 



BY 



* 



P 



J. ; ALEXANDER PATTEN. 



ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS ON STEEL. 



"Lights op the World, and Stabs op Human Race."— Cowper. 






NEW YORK: 
ATLANTIC PUBLISHING COMPANY, 

1874. 






Entered, According to Act of Conokess, in the tear 1874, 

By J. ALEXANDEK PATTEN, 

in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



PREFACE, 



This volume is respectfully presented to tlie public as 
the result of many years of conscientious labor. A collection 
of tlie biographical facts relating to the clergy of the cities of 
New York and Brooklyn, and of the historical information 
concerning the different sects and churches, when carried to 
the extent of the present work, necessarily involves a vast 
amount of research and time. My rule has been, with a few 
exceptions, to make the acquaintance of each clergyman, and 
to obtain from himself the facts of his life, and then, by a 
thorough study of his character and attendance upon his 
preaching, to prepare myself for writing the personal descrip- 
tions and criticisms which are leading features of the book. I 
have thus taken little second-hand information, but used my 
own original facts, and the opinions formed by personal ac- 
quaintance. The plan has also enabled me to make the bio- 
graphies correct in their stated facts, and more of personal 
portraitures than is possible where the subjects are unknown 
to the biographer. As the sketches were prepared, they ap- 
peared serially in two forms of publication (in one of them 
weekly for several years), and the popularity they uninterrupt- 
edly enjoyed was an assured proof of their fidelity to truth 
and the character of the individuals. It also led to their ex- 
amination by the subjects themselves, and the pointing out 
of typographical and other errors, so that in their present 
form they are, probably, as nearly correct, in all particulars, 
as is possible. To write the lives of living men is a delicate 
as well as a responsible task, and I can justly declare that, 
while I have drawn very close portraits, I have in no measure 
allowed my pen to be the vehicle of a wound. 

Two hundred and sixty-three biographies of the living 
clergy of New York and Brooklyn have been written. Of 



IV. PREFACE. 

this number two hundred and fourteen were originally pub- 
lished, forty-nine have since been prepared, and sixty-three 
persons of the original number have removed to other places 
or are deceased, leaving two hundred as the number in the 
present volume. Several of those included have died, and 
others removed while the book is in press, but these are ne- 
cessarily retained. Each of the sketches serially published 
has been revised, largely re- written, and brought down to 
date, and the new biographies are of all the leading clergy 
more recently called to the pulpits of the two cities. Great care 
has been given to the accuracy of the historical facts, which 
will be found reliable and useful for reference in relation to 
the different sects and churches. An Appendix furnishes 
various statistical tables of information for the same purpose. 
The Extracts from Sermons have been selected to show the 
greatest variety in style of thought and eloquence. In a 
word, every source of information, in individuals, records, 
books, and newspapers, has been diligently made use of in 
the different branches of the work. For the invariable cour- 
tesy and assistance which have been extended to me in all 
intercourse and investigations of this nature, I now express 
my grateful thanks. In concluding this review of the manner 
in which I have performed my long task, I venture to in- 
dulge the hope that it will be esteemed worthy of contin- 
ued public approbation. 

New York, 1874. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Adams, Rev. Dr. William 9 

Adler, Rabbi Dr. Samuel 12 

Alexander, Eev. Dr. Samuel D 15 

Anderson, Rev. Dr. Galusha 18 

Anderson, Rev. Dr. Thomas D 20 

Armitage, Rev. Dr. Thomas 25 

Bancroft, Rev. Dr. Lucius W 32 

Beach, Rev. Dr. Alfred B 34 

Beecher, Rev. Henry Ward 37 

Bellows, Rev. Dr. Henry W 42 

Bjerring, Rev. Nicholas 47 

Boole, Rev. William H 49 

Booth, Rev. Dr. Robert R 54 

Budington, Rev. Dr. William I 57 

Burchard, Rev. Dr. Samuel D 60 

Camp, Rev. Stephen H 64 

Carroll, Rev. Dr. J. Halsted 66 

Campbell, Rev. Gawn 71 

Carter, Rev. Dr. Abram B 74 

Carter, Rev. Samuel T 77 

Chad-wick, Rev. John W 79 

Chambers, Rev. Dr. Talbot W 81 

Chapin, Rev. Dr. Edwin H 83 

Chapman, Rev. John A. M 88 

Cheever, Rev. Dr. George B 90 

Clark, Rev. Dr. Frederick G 92 

Conkling, Rev. Nathaniel W 95 

Conrad, Rev. Dr. Thomas K 98 

Cooke, Rev. Dr. Samuel 102 

Cookman, Rev. John E 106 

Corbit, Rev. WiUiam P 109 

Cox, Rev. Dr. Samuel H 112 

Coxe, Right Rev. A. Cleveland 116 

Crosby, Rev. Dr. Howard 119 

Cummins, Rev. Dr. George D. . . . 122 
Cuyler, Rev. Dr. Theodore L 124 

Dawson, Rev. William C 128 

Deems, Rev. Dr. Charles F 131 

De Haas, Rev. Frank S 135 

De Witt, Rev. Dr. Thomas 138 

Diller, Rev. Dr. Jacob W 143 

Dix, Rev. Dr. Morgan 146 

Dowling, Rev. Dr. John 149 

Draper, Rev. Dr. George B 152 

Drowne, Rev. T. Stafford 156 

Duffie, Rev. Dr. Cornelius R 160 

Duryea, Rev. Dr. Joseph T 162 

Eaton, Rev. Dr. Theodore A 166 

Einhorn, Rabbi Dr. David 168 



PAGB 

Elder, Rev. Joseph F 171 

Enyard, Rev. William T 173 

Ewer, Rev. Dr. Ferdinand C 177 

Farley, Rev. Dr. Frederick A 180 

Farrell, Rev. Father Thomas 182 

Ferris, Rev. Dr. Isaac 184 

Flagg, Rev. Dr. Edward 188 

Fletcher, Rev. Charles 193 

Forbes, Rev. Dr. John M 195 

Foster,Rev. Bishop Randolph S..DD 199 

Foss, Rev. Cyrus D 202 

French, Rev. J. Clement 205 

Frothiugham, Rev. Octavius B.... 208 
Fulton, Rev. Dr. Justin D 211 

Gallaher, Rev. Henry M 213 

Gallaudet, Rev. Dr. Thomas 216 

Galleher, Rev. John N 220 

Ganse, Rev. Dr. Harvey D 223 

Geer, Rev. Dr. George J 225 

Geissenhainer, Rev. Dr. F. W 228 

Giles, Rev. Dr. Chauncey 231 

Gillette, Rev. Dr. A. D 235 

Gillett, Rev. Dr. Ezra H 237 

Gottheil, Rabbi Dr. Gustav 239 

Hall, Rev. Dr. Charles H 241 

Hall, Rev. Dr. John 246 

Haight, Rev. Dr. Benjamin 1 250 

Hamilton, Rev. Samuel M 253 

Hanna, Rev. Thomas A. T 255 

Haskins, Rev. Dr. Samuel M 257 

Hastings, Rev. Dr. Thomas S 261 

Hecker, Rev. Father Isaac T 264 

Hepworth, Rev. George H. 266 

Holme, Rev. Dr. J. Stanford 270 

Houghton, Rev. Dr. George H 273 

Howland, Rev. Dr. Robert S 276 

Hoyt, Rev. Wayland 279 

Huebsch, Rabbi Dr. Adolphus 282 

Hunt, Rev. Dr. Albert S 285 

Hutton, Rev. Dr. Mancius S 287 

Ingersoll, Rev. Edward P 289 

Inglis, Rev. Dr. David 291 

Inskip, Rev. John S 293 

Irving, Rev. Dr. Theodore 296 

Isaacs, Rabbi Samuel M 299 

Janes,Rev. Bishop Edmund, S., D.D. 303 

Johnson, Rev. Daniel V. M 308 

Jutten, Rev. David B 311 



vt 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Kimball, Rev. Dr. Joseph 313 

KroteL Eev. Dr. G. Frederick 316 

Lawrence, Eev. Dr. Francis E 319 

Littlejolm, Eight Eev. Dr. A. N. . . 322 

Lowry, Eev. Robert 326 

Ludlow, Eev. Dr. James M 328 

Lundy, Eev. Dr. John P . . . 331 

Lyman, Eev. Albert J 333 

MacArthur, Eev. Eobert S 335 

McCloskey, Most Eev. Dr. John. . . 337 

• McElroy, Eev. Dr. Joseph 343 

McGlynn, Eev. Father Edward, D.D. 346 

:McJilton, Eev. Dr. John N 350 

McLeod, Eev. Dr. John N 354 

McVickar, Eev. W. Neilson 358 

Malone, Eev. Father Sylvester, 361 

Mandeville, Eev. Dr. G. Henry 362 

Mikels, Eev. William S 366 

Milbnrn, Eev. William H 368 

Miller, Eev. Dr. D. Henry 373 

Mitchell, Eev. David. 375 

Montgomery, Eev. Dr. Henry E. . . 378 

Moore, Eev. Dr. David 381 

Morgan, Eev. Dr. William F 383 

Morrill, Eev. Father Charles W. ... 387 
Muhlenberg, Eev. Dr. William A.. 391 
Murray, Eev. Dr. James 395 

Newell, Eev. Dr. William W 399 

Northrop, Eev. Henry D 402 

Ogilby, Eev. Dr. Frederick 405 

Ormiston, Eev. Dr. William 407 

Osborn, Eev. Dr. Abraham C 411 

Osgood, Eev. Dr. Samuel 415 

Paddock, Eev. Dr. John A. ..... . 417 

Paddock,Right Rev. Dr. Benjamin H. 419 

Partridge, Eev. Alfred H 421 

Paxton, Eev. Dr. William M 423 

Pendleton, Eev. William H 428 

Pomeroy, Eev. Charles S 430 

Porter, Eev. Dr. Elbert S 432 

Potter, Eight Eev. Dr. Horatio .... 437 

Potter, Eev. Dr. Henry C 439 

Powers, Eev. Henry 442 

Prentiss, Eev. Dr. George L 445 

Preston, Eev. Father Thomas S 449 

Price, Rev. Dr. Joseph H 452 

Prime, Rev. Dr. Samuel Irenseus . . . 454 

Pullman, Rev. James M 456 

Putnam, Eev. Dr. Alfred P 461 

Quackenbush, Eev. Dr. D. MeL. . . 466 

Eeed, Eev. Dr. Alexander. 468 

Eeid, Eev. William 471 

Eidgaway, Eev. Dr. Henry B 474 



PAGE 

Eiley, Eev. Isaac 476 

Eobinson, Eev. Dr. Charles S 479 

Eockwell, Eev. Dr. J. Edson 483 

Eoaers, Eev. Dr. Ebenezer P 487 

Eossiter, Rev. Stealy B 489 

Rylance, Rev. Dr. James H 491 

Sabine, Eev. William T 494 

Sckaff, Rev. Dr. Philip 496 

Schenck, Rev. Dr. Noah H 499 

Scott, Eev. Dr. William A 604 

Scudder, Eev. Dr. Henry Martyn . . 608 

Seabury, Rev. William J 510 

Seaver, Rev. Dr. Norman 513 

Seymour, Rev. Dr. George F 515 

Shedd, Rev. Dr. William G. T 519 

Sloss, Rev. Dr. Robert 520 

Smith, Rev. Dr. John Cotton 523 

Smith, Rev. Dr. J. Hyatt 527 

Snively, Eev. William A 529 

Southgate, Eight Eev. Dr. H 531 

Spear, Eev. Dr. Samuel T 533 

Spring, Eev. Dr. Gardiner 535 

Storrs, Eev. Dr. Eichard S 539 

Street, Eev. Thomas 542 

Stryker, Eev. Dr. Peter 544 

Sweetser, Eev. Edwin C 548 

Talmage, Eev. T. De Witt 550 

Taylor, Eev. Dr. William M 555 

Taylor, Eev. Dr. Elisha E. L 559 

Thomas, Eev. Jesse B 562 

Thompson, Eev. Dr. Hugh Miller.. 565 
Thompson, Eev. Dr. Alexander R.. 567 

Thompson, Rev. Dr. Joseph P 570 

Thomson, Eev. Dr. John 573 

Thrall, Eev. George E 576 

Tuttle, Eev. Dr. Isaac H 579 

Tyng, Eev. Dr. Stephen H 583 

Tyng, Jr., Eev. Dr. Stephen H. ... 587 

Van Dyke, Eev. Dr. Henry J 590 

Vermilye, Eev. Dr. Thomas E 593 

Verren, Eev. Dr. Antoine 597 

Vidaver, Eabbi Dr. Hemy 601 

Vincent, Eev. Dr. Marvin R. 603 

Washburn, Eev. Dr. Edward A 605 

Weed, Rev. Dr. Levi S 608 

Wells, Rev. Dr. John D 613 

Weston, Rev. Dr. Sullivan H 617 

Wild, Rev. Dr. Joseph 621 

Williams, Rev. Dr. William E 624 

Wilson, Rev. James D 627 

Appendix 631 

Recent Facts and changes 7 



EECENT FACTS AND CHANGES. 

While our volume is in press, various recent facts and changes, 
relating to the clergy who are included in it, are to be noticed as 
follows : — 

Eev. Isaac Ferris, D. D., LL. D., died June 16th, 1873, in his 
seventy-fifth year. 

Eev. Gardiner Spring, D. D., born February 21th, 1785, died 
August 18th, 1873, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. 

Eev. Antoine Verren, D. D., born in 1801, died March 17th, 
1874, aged seventy -three years. 

Eev. John N. McLeod, D. D., died April 27th, 1874, in his sixty- 
,ghth year. 

Eev. Thomas De Witt, D. D., died May 18th, 1874, in his eighty- 
hird year. 

Eev. Elisha E. L. Taylor, D. D., died August 18th, 1874, in the 
fifty-ninth year of his age. 

Eev. Henry E. Montgomery, D. D., died October 15th, 1874, in 
his fifty -fourth year. 

Eev. Dr. William Adams, having been elected President of the 
Union Theological Seminary, New York, preached his farewell ser- 
mon as pastor of the Madison Square Presbyterian Church, on Sun- 
day, April 19th. 1874. His inauguration as President took place 
on the occasion of the thirty-eighth anniversary of the Seminary, 
May 11th, 1874. Eev. Dr. George L. Prentiss, formerly of the 
Church of the Covenant, New York, was also installed as Professor 
of Pastoral Theology, Church Polity, and Missionary Work. 

The new edifice of the Tompkins Avenue Presbyterian Church, 
Brooklyn, of which the Eev. Dr. Frederick G. Clark is pastor, was 
dedicated on the evening of February 12th, 1874. 

On Sunday, April 26th, 1874, the Eev. William F. Sabine, rec- 
tor of the Episcopal Church of the Atonement, New York, preached 
a sermon, announcing his secession from the Protestant Episcopal to 
the Eeformed Episcopal Church. He resigned his rectorship, and 
organized a new congregation, who hold services in the church, on the 
corner of Madison avenue and Forty-seventh street, New York. 

Eev. Dr. Samuel Adler, the senior pastor of the Jewish congre- 
gation Temple Emanuel, has been retired on an annuity for life. 

Eev. Dr. Hemy Vidaver, of the congregation Bnai Jeshurun, 



VIII 

New York, received and accepted a call from a congregation in 
San Francisco, California. 

Eev. John A. M. Chapman, formerly of St. John's Methodist 
Church, Brooklyn, commenced preaching at St. Paul's, New York, 
on Sunday, September 6th, 1874. 

Eev. Levi S. Weed, recently of the John Street Methodist, New 
York, has been appointed to the Carroll Park Church, Brooklyn. 

Eev. Octavius B. Frothingham has published two new works, 
viz : " The Eeligion of Humanity," and the " Life of Theodore 
Parker." 

Eev. Dr. William W. Newell has resigned the pastorship of the 
Allen Street Presbyterian Church. 

Eev. William T. Enyard is now the pastor of the Eeformed 
Church, Brighton Heights, Staten Island, New York. 

Eev. Dr. Henry B. Bidgaway, left the charge of St James' Meth- 
odist Church (Harlem), New York, for an extended period of travel 
in the Holy Land : Eev. Dr. Cyrus D. Foss has been appointed to 
St. James'. 

Eev. John E. Cookman is now the pastor of the Tremont Street 
Methodist Church, Boston, Mass. 

Eev. Henry Powers has resigned the pastorship of the Church 
of the Messiah (Unitarian), New York. 

Eev. Dr. John Dowling has retired from the active ministry. 

Eev. Wayland Hoyt is now the pastor of the Shawmut Avenue 
Baptist Church, Boston, Mass. 

Lee Avenue Baptist Church, Brooklyn, by reason of its adher- 
ence to the practice of open communion, was dropped from the list 
of the Long Island Association, under the protest of its pastor, Eev. 
J. Hyatt Smith. 

The confirmation of the Eev. Dr. George F. Seymour, as Episco- 
pal Bishop of Illinois, having occasioned an issue in the high and 
low church question, it was defeated in the General Convention. 




^^ /z^<z^^^Z 



REV. WILLIAM ADAMS, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE >£A.DIlSOr^ SQUARE PRESBY. 
TERIAN CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




EV. DR WILLIAM ADAMS, son of John Adams, was 
born at Colchester, Conn., in 1813. "When an infant he 
was taken to Andover, Mass., where his father became 
the principal of an academy. The elder Adams was one 
the most celebrated teachers of his day, and had among his 
JE9 pupils some of the greatest Bible scholars our country has 
produced. Trained by his father, and a protege of Professor Stuart, 
young Adams had also the advantage of constant association with 
such men as Judson, Gordon Hall, Newell, and many others. As 
a boy, his first dollar was given to the Missionary cause. He settled 
at Brighton near Boston, where his ministry was successful. The 
ill health of his wife induced him to come to the city of New York, 
to pass the winter. In 1840 he accepted a call to the Broome Street 
or Central Presbyterian Church of New York, and for many years 
was its most efficient and beloved pastor. 

A large portion of this congregation, who thought it advisable to 
remove to the upper part of the city, withdrew with Dr. Adams, in 
1853, and erected an elegant church edifice on the corner of Madison 
avenue and Twenty-fourth street, and became known as the Madison 
Square Presbyterian Church. The building fronts Madison Square 
and the Fifth Avenue Hotel, and all its surroundings are very fine. 
It was erected at a cost of one hundred and seventy-five thousand 
dollars, all of which came from voluntary subscriptions. The 
dedication took place in December, 1854. The congregation has 
always been large, and now numbers many of the most influential 
men of the city. Being unable to maintain themselves down-town, 
the Central Church at length sold their building, and removed to 
a point up-town much beyond even the field occupied by Dr. 
Adams. 

In appearance, Dr. Adams is a tall, erect finely-proportioned' 

9 



REV. WILLIAM ADAMS, D. D. 

man, going down the decline of life, but still hale and vigorous. 
He has regular, well-defined features, and a cheerful, intellectual 
face. His eyes are bright and penetrating, his mouth is expressive 
of much decision of character, and his brow has not less of physical 
symmetry than evidences of mental endowment. To this striking 
and attractive presence, he adds manners at once polished and fas- 
cinating. He exhibits an easy, becoming dignity, but he is very 
affable and approachable, being so finished a gentleman. In public 
and private his bearing is marked by an entire self-possession, and a 
happy adaptability to circumstances and persons. He has a genial, 
companionable disposition, and none save ennobling qualities of 
heart. 

Dr. Adams has greatly distinguished himself in the authorship 
of occasional sermons and addresses. He wields an eloquent as well 
as a learned pen, and whatever he writes is worthy of prmanent 
preservation. Much that he has written has been printed, and en- 
joyed an extended circulation. Among his books may be named 
"The Three Gardens — Eden, Gethsemane, and Paradise," and 
"Thanksgiving." 

His lectures on the " Catacombs of Eome," delivered to a crowded 
audience in Association Hall, was one of the most interesting ever 
given to a New York audience. Of the many thousands who have 
visited those monuments of early Christianity in the Eternal City, 
we believe Dr. Adams was the first to read and interpret correctly 
the Greek and Latin inscriptions on them ; and he has thus furnished 
a key to all biblical students, whereby the mysteries of revelation 
and the facts of history may be understood and appreciated. 

His sermons are all able, and show his great theological as well 
as literary culture. He never preaches such a thing as an indifferent 
sermon — it is, in fact, an impossibility with him. All are grand in 
thought and majestic in eloquence. While he does not turn aside 
from the course of religious argument, he interweaves with his rea- 
soning attractive cullings from literature and much that is imaginative. 
Powerful and scholarly arguments, they are also affecting Christian 
appeals to sinners. His voice is mellow, though of full compass for 
the largest building, his tall, erect figure imparts additional impres- 
siveness to his delivery and gestures. He is equally happy as an 
extemporaneous speaker, showing a remarkable fluency of chaste, 
effective language. 

Dr. Adams belongs to the order of ministers who carry dignity 

10 



KEV. WILLIAM ADAMS, D. D. 

and propriety as well as power into the sacred desk. They are 
intellectual men, prepared for their work by study, experience, and 
talents ; and they" are consistent men, living godly lives, and main- 
taining the dignity as well as the purity of the religious life. In the 
light of their abilities ignorance and sin shrink away abashed, and 
confronted with their force and influence of character public senti- 
ment is arrested and controlled. This is the nature of the position 
occupied by Dr. Adams in his denomination, and with the public at 
large. His influence is at all times commanding and wide spread, 
and he stands in the church and the community as the representative 
of the highest religious, moral and intellectual power. 

Probably the pastoral relations of Dr. Adams are as agreeable as 
those of any man in the ministry. He is admired and beloved by 
his people, and he is as sincerely attached to them. They belong to 
a cultivated class, and he has the pleasure of knowing that his 
learned efforts in the pulpit are not thrown away on un appreciative 
minds. His church is always crowded, and there is no want of reli- 
gious zeal. He is also very comfortable as far as worldly goods are 
concerned, as his own personal wealth is said to exceed one hundred 
thousand dollars. He resides in a fine mansion at the rear of the 
church on Twenty-fourth street. 

Although Dr. Adams has now grown gray in the ministry, and 
although his efforts have always been incessant and zealous in the 
utmost degree, still there is no abatement of his energies, and most 
likely will not be. His pride is to be in the harness, and to make 
every hour useful in behalf of his fellow-men. Hence he goes con- 
stantly among his people, with his gentle words of instruction, 
counsel and cheer ; and he teaches in his pulpit with an affectionate 
concern for his hearers, which never fails in impressing the most un- 
concerned to be found in a public assemblage. 

ll 



REV. SAMUEL ADLER, Ph. D., 

RABBI OF THE TEMPLE EIHAJVUEL. CONGRE- 
GATION, NEW YORK. 




)EV. DR. SAMUEL ADLER was born in the city of 
Worms, on the Rhine, in 1810. He is a son of the late 
distinguished Jacob J. Adler, who was rabbi of the con- 
gregation at that place. He commenced the study of the 
Hebrew language, the Bible, and the Talmud, at an early age, 
- under the superintendence of his father. At fourteen, the death 
of his father caused him to leave home, and repair to Frankfort-on- 
the-Maine, there to pursue his studies at the Talmudical High 
School. Later, he studied under the Rabbi Barnburg in his native 
town, and also, by his own exertions, sought to fit himself for the 
University. From 1831 to 1836 he frequented the Universities of 
Bonn and Giessen. The study of philosophy, and especially that of 
Oriental philology, were pursued with great zeal and grasp of mind. 
In the spring of 1836 he returned to Worms, where he was at once 
installed as preacher and religious instructor of the congregation, to 
which office was added that of instructor of all the Jewisn schools. 
He now first appeared as the champion of reform, and took the ear- 
liest steps toward the purification and improvement of public wor- 
ship among the Israelites of that entire section of country. Quick 
to seize every opportunity to inculcate his views, he awakened great 
interest in his proceedings, and, comparatively young as he was, be- 
came a man of commanding influence. 

In 1842, he received charge of the rabbinical district of Alzei, an 
extensive, and as yet uncultivated field of labor. Such was the 
success of his efforts, that in a few years the whole community of 
Alzei had obtained for itself, throughout Germany, a name which 
compared favorably with that of the richest and largest congrega- 
tions. 

He was one of the most active members of the convocation of 
G-erman Rabbins of 1844-46. In 1854, he accepted an engagement 

12 



REV. SAMUEL ADLER, PH. D. 

as rabbi and preacher of the Jewish congregation at Limberg, in 
Gralicia, but which was not fulfilled, by reason of unforeseen cir- 
cumstances. The death of the Rev. Dr. Merzbacher, rabbi of the 
Reform congregation of the Temple Emanuel in New York, left 
an important vacancy, which Dr. Adler was invited to fill, in the 
fall of 1856. He accepted, and is still discharging the duties of the 
position. He received the diploma of Doctor of Philosophy from the 
University of Griessen. The Temple Emanuel congregation was or- 
ganized about twenty-eight years ago, and is now one of great 
wealth and influence. They worship in a synagogue on the corner 
of Fifth Avenue and Forty-third Street, which is not excelled in 
magnificence by any church or other building of the city. At the 
beginning of the organization, there were only fifteen poor men, and 
the first preaching was in a room of a private house. Afterward, 
preaching was held in Chrystie street, and later, a handsome syna- 
gogue was opened in Twelfth street. The success of the congrega- 
tion at length led to the building of the synagogue on Fifth avenue, 
which was duly consecrated, September 11th, 1868. This structure 
cost, with the ground, between six and seven hundred thousand 
dollars, and seats some eighteen hundred people. 

In the Jewish temples of the reform school, the sexes are not 
seated separately. The choir is accompanied by an organ or melo- 
deon. The male worshipers in the orthodox synagogues wear 
their hats and silk praying scarfs, or Taleths. during service ; in the 
reform temples they do not. The abandonment of the old ritual 
has led to the introduction of several new forms of prayer and em- 
bodiments of principles, which have frequently only local accepta- 
tion. Thus there are distinct rituals at Cincinnati, Baltimore, San 
Francisco, Philadelphia, New York, and other cities. The reform 
movement is German in its origin, but its development has been 
American. In Europe the traditions and prejudices of the people, 
combined with their political condition, retard such a reform : while 
in the United States, free institutions and their teachings have pro- 
moted it. The first reform congregation in the United States was in 
Charleston ; but there are now some forty throughout the country. 
Dr. Adler revised the prayer book for his own congregation, and by 
his great scholarship has given influence to the whole movement. 

The Jewish clergy are generally profound men. Their studies 
are thorough, into the very sources of theological learning, and from 
both inclination and habit, these laborious investigations are contin- 

13 



EEV. SAMUEL IDLER, PH. D. 

lied as long as they live. Superficial study is distasteful to them, 
and they place no reliance on the opinions or preaching of any man 
who does not first prove himself worthy of attention by deep and 
scholarly preparation. They are very critical and close in their esti- 
mate of the ability of each other, and they are apt to treat with a 
sneer the presumed learning of clergymen of Christian sects. In 
both the orthodox and reform churches of the Jews, there are men 
of the highest reputation for learning, and, consequently, each side 
is maintained with all the strength of scholarship and faith. The 
newspaper organs of both are also well conducted, and enjoy a lib- 
eral patronage. Their discussions are aiways going on, but with the 
dignity of learning, rather than any personal acrimony. Take them 
all in all, there is no religious class of the community who present 
a more prosperous and respectable attitude, as a sect and as individ- 
uals, than the Jews of New York. 

Dr. Adler preaches in the German language, and occasionally 
lectures in English. Though he speaks quite well in the latter 
tongue, he states that he does not care to use it in public. Sermons 
in English are regularly delivered by a learned associate, the Kev. 
Dr. Gottheil, formerly of Manchester, England, called for the purpose. 
Each of these gentlemen receives six thousand dollars a year. Dr. 
Adler's sermons are extemporaneous, but show profound thought in 
his previous preparation. He is a learned theologian, in the full : 
meaning of the term, and hence he is at no loss as a teacher of sa- 
cred things, to control the human mind and heart Fervent and elo- 
quent in expressing himself, his language is well chosen, and his 
manner dignified and impressive. In private life he is a man of at- 
tractive qualities, and is sometimes given to merriment His taste 
and habits, however, are mostly of a scholarly nature, and he is 
generally found absorbed in his books and reflections. He is under 
the medium height, with a round head. The face is large, having 
regular and expressive features. It conveys full evidence that he is 
a man of thoroughly sincere character, and great patience and ear- 
nestness of effort. Whatever he under, akes is done without show, 
but with unwavering energy, and a happy adaptation of means to 
the end in view. With the history of Jewish reform in Germany, 
but more especially in the city of New York, his name will be 
forever associated. Profound in learning and conscientious in duty, 
he has won success for his cause, and imperishable honor for 
him sell 

14 



MY. SAMUEL D. ALEXANDER, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE PHILLIPS MiEjVEORIAJLi PBES« 
BYTERUN CHUHCH. 




i EV. DR. SAMUEL D. ALEX ANDER was bom at Prince- 
ton, New Jersey, May 3d, 1819. He is the son of the 
late and distinguished Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander, 
Professor of the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick, 
and brother of the late Rev. Dr. Joseph Addison Alex- 
J^q ander, noted as a commentator on the Scriptures and an Orien- 
tal scholar, and of the late Rev. Dr. James W. Alexander, a man of 
high position in the Presbyterian denomination, and at the time of 
his death pastor of the Fifth avenue and Nineteenth Street Church, 
New York 

The Alexander family, who were Scotch and Scotch-Irish Pres- 
byterians, made early settlements in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Virginia, and North Carolina. A tradition connected with the fam- 
ily relates that on the eve of the departure of seven brothers of the 
name from Ireland for the New World, they sent to Scotland for 
their old minister to come and baptize their children and administer 
the ordinances to them. Says the account : 

" The minister, a faithful and fearless man, came at the invitation ; the family 
and their effects were embarked with due secrecy and quietness ; the minister was 
taken on board the vessel and the sacrament of baptism was administered to the 
younger members of the family with the solemnity and prayerfulness becoming the 
circumstances. Just then a company of armed men that were prowling about came 
on board the vessel, broke up the meeting, and carried the minister to a place of 
confinement, 

"The company were in consternation, fearing the same fate for themselves, and 
distressed about leaving their minister in this unhappy condition, brought on him 
for their sakes. Toward night the old mother, who had been piously covenanting 
for her grandchildren, exclaimed, ' Mun gang ye awn, tak our minister out o' the 
jail, and tak him, guid soul, wi' us to Amarika. ' Her voice had never been diso- 

15 



EEV. SAMUEL D. ALEXANDER, D. D. 

bayed. Before morning the minister was on board and the vessel out of the harbor. 
He was persuaded to go along with them in their pilgrimage. "With many prayera 
and thanksgivings they were landed safely on Manhattan Island." 

During his lifetime the minister followed their emigrations, and 
assisted them in their schools and in training their children. Their 
baptisms and marriages generally took place at the time of his an- 
nual visit. 

The subject of our notice was graduated at the College of New 
Jersey, sometimes called Nassau Hall, in 1838, and at Princeton 
Theological Seminary in 1847. During an interval before entering 
upon his theological course he studied natural philosophy under 
Professor Joseph Henry, LL. D., now of the Smithsonian Institute, 
and gave his attention to civil engineering, and subsequently studied 
law, but never sought admission to the bar. He was licensed in 
May, 1847, and ordained in November of the same year, when he 
settled as pastor of the Eichmond Presbyterian Church, in Philadel- 
phia, remaining there three years. In 1856, he removed to the city 
of New York, and was installed in his present pastoral relations in 
connection with the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church. The 
organization of this congregation took place September 8th, 1844, 
with twenty-seven members, and was one of the early up-town move- 
ments. For many years the building occupied was a plain but 
commodious structure, which was erected by the munificence of James 
Lenox, Esq., of New York. More recently the congregation has 
followed a second up-town migration, and is now located on the corner 
of Madison Avenue and Seventy-third street. A new chapel has been 
built, and a large main edifice is now being erected at a cost of about 
ninety thousand dollars, on Madison Avenue. The title of the con- 
gregation has been changed to the Phillips Memorial Church. Dr. 
Alexander received his degree of D. D. from Washington College, 
Pennsylvania, in 1863. He is the author of a work, in one volume, 
entitled "History of the Irish Presbyterian Church." 

Dr. Alexander is tall, equally proportioned, and of erect, easy 
carriage. His head is round and small, but perfectly formed, with 
prominent intellectual characteristics. He has straight light brown 
hair, wears side whiskers, and looks his full age. Without anything 
like hasty familiarity or desire to be communicative, he has a friend- 
liness of manner and a frankness of address by which he gracefully 
and agreeably places himself on the best footing with you. There 
is no show of self-importance, but the most simple and unassuming 

16 



REV. SAMUEL P. ALEXANDER, D.D. 

deportment throughout. You find, yourself intimate with him as 
soon as you are acquainted, and long association only adds to the 
good opinion and esteem which the earliest intercourse is certain to 
engender. He has a well-stored mind, but is rather secretive in re- 
gard to his learning, from the two causes of modesty of his acquire- 
ments and an aversion to pedantry. His writings display more of 
his qualifications in this respect than his conversation. He argues 
closely and elaborately, but with such freedom of diction and clear- 
ness of conception that there is neither tediousness nor obscurity. 
He thinks boldly and vigorously, and he writes with quite as much 
conciseness of expression and energy of application. Following in 
the footsteps of his father and brothers, be is a critical student of the 
Bible, and there are few who think more profoundly when expound- 
ing its pages. 

Dr. Alexander has excellent capabilities as a pulpit speaker. 
His voice is soft and agreeable, entirely under his control, and, with- 
out being strictly oratorical, his style is highly effective. He has 
only a moderate amount of gesture, and there is nothing which at 
all tends to display. But he commands the undivided attention of 
the auditor, because he never fails to present thought which is no'c 
less original than conclusive. There is sufficient warmth and imagi- 
nation to prove that the quick feelings and ardent mind are both at 
work ; but the more efficient element of the discourse is broad com- 
mon sense and substantial logic. 

17 



EEY. GALUSH1 ANDERSON, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE STRONG PLACE BAPTIST 
CHUKCH, BKOOK.LYN. 




)EV. DR. GALUSHA ANDERSON was born at Bergen, 
Genesee County, New York, March 7th, 1832. He was 
graduated at the University of Rochester, in 1854, and 
in theology at the Rochester Theological Seminary in 
1856. During the same year he was first settled over the 
^3 First Baptist Church at Janesville, "Wisconsin, where he re- 
mained two years. He then went to the Second Church of St. Louis, 
remaining eight years, and accomplishing results in his ministry, 
not less unusual than satisfactory to himself and the community. 
The asritation and bitterness of feelinsj which affected all classes in 
Missouri, and in St. Louis especially, at the opening of the war with 
the South, are well known. Dr. Anderson at once took strong 
ground in his pulpit and out of it, in favor of the Union, and the re- 
sult was the loss of a large number of his congregation. A thanks- 
giving sermon on " Obedience to Government," preached on the 27th 
of November, 1862, at the time published in the local papers, and 
subsequently in Moore's " Rebellion Record," brought him into great 
prominence in this matter. He continued his advocacy of the Union, 
and remained with the part of the congregation who were loyal, 
gradually regaining in numbers, until at the close of the war the 
congregation was numerically stronger than before. He regards his 
work at that period with a vivid recollection of its difficulties, as well 
as a pleasing satisfaction as to the prosperous condition in which he 
finally left the restored congregation. In 1866 he was elected to the 
chair of Homiletics, Church Polity, and Pastoral Duties in the Bap- 
tist Theological Institution at Newton, Mass., which he filled with 
marked success for seven years, until called to his present pastor- 
ship. He commenced his work with the Strong Place Baptist Church 
of Brooklyn on the first Sunday of October, 1873. 

The Strong Place congregation was organized by the Rev. Dr. 
Elisha E. L. Taylor, who for more than twenty years was one of the 



REV. GALTJSHA ANDERSON, D. I). 

most active clergymen of Brooklyn. A stone chapel was built in 
Strong Place in which worship was commenced in 1849. During 
1851-2 a large and elegant structure of red free-stone was erected, 
fronting on Degraw street, and dedicated on the 19th of September, 
1852. 

The cost, aside from the seven lots of ground, was a little over 
seventy thousand dollars. The last dollar of debt upon the entire 
church property was paid in 1863. 

Dr. Taylor was highly successful, and gathered a congregation 
large in numbers and powerful in wealth and social influence. Up 
to 1863 one thousand members joined the church, five hundred of 
whom were received on profession of their faith, and baptized. Dr. 
Taylor's health at length became much impaired, so that he could 
not preach regularly, and finally he determined to retire altogether 
from the active work of the ministry. His congregation made ample 
provision for him in a pecuniary way for his life time, giving him 
the sum of twenty thousand dollars. In 1867 Dr. Taylor was suc- 
ceeded by the Eev. "Wayland Hoyt, who remained until 1873. 

Dr. Anderson received his degree of D. D. from the University of 
Rochester in 1866. He has been a frequent contributor to the Bap- 
tist Quarterly, and other publications. 

He is of the medium height, and equally proportioned. His head 
is round, with regular and expressive features. His hair is slightly 
gray, and he looks rather older than his years. From his countenance 
you may readily understand him to be a man of energetic pur- 
pose, and a lover of right and propriety in all things. He looks into 
the motives of individuals, and the probabilities of events with a 
great deal of keen penetration, and he is not often at fault in either 
his deductions or proceedings. In his nature he is genial, and full 
of kindness and sympathy, but after all, he is stern in his judgment, 
and unswerving in his devotion to principle and duty. He is, in 
fact, a person whose quick impulse is to be just and friendly with 
all men, but who is equally certain to hold them to uprightness and 
virtue as the price of his esteem. 

He deservedly enjoys a high rank as a scholar and preacher. 
There is nothing superficial in his attainments in any particular. 
He shows the substance, vigor, and power of thought in all that he 
attempts, and in teaching and expounding he is not surpassed by 
any clergyman of his denomination. 

19 



REV. THOMAS D. ANDERSON, D. D., 

PASTOR OE THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, 
NEW YORK. 




)EV. DR THOMAS D. ANDERSON" was bora in Phila- 
delphia June 30th, 1819, but passed much of his earlier 
years in the city of Washington, whither his parents had 
removed. He was graduated at the University of Penn- 
sylvania in 1838, and in theology at the Newton Theological- 
Institute, in 1841. He was ordained and settled in 1842 as 
pastor of the First Baptist Church of Salem, Mass., where he re- 
mained six years. Impaired health induced him to resign in 
February, 184S, but in the following June he again assumed pastoral 
labors in connection with the First Baptist Church of Boxbury. 
which continued through a period of nearly four years. During his 
sojourn with them, the congregation erected a new brick and mastic 
Gothic church edifice, with a spire two hundred feet high, which is 
considered one of the most beautiful buildings of the kind in the 
country. Though greatly attached to his people and to the place, so 
celebrated for its rural charms and social culture, he nevertheless felt 
it his duty to accept a call in another field of vast importance. In 
January, 1862, he became pastor of the First Baptist Church, Broome 
street, New York, formerly under the pastorship of the late Bev. Dr. 
Spencer H. Cone. 

Dr. Anderson's publications consist of occasional sermons and 
addresses. In July, 1850, he delivered, before the city government 
and citizens of Boxbury, a funeral oration on Zachary Taylor, late 
President of the United States : and in January, 1860, he delivered 
the "Election Sermon," annually given before the Executive and 
Legislative Departments of the Government of Massachusetts. His 
degree of D. D. was bestowed by Brown University in 1859. 

Previous to the year 1669 there was preaching in the city of New 
York, according to the Baptist faith, by one William Wickenden, of 
Rhode Island, who was imprisoned several months for presuming to 

20 



REV. THOMAS D. ANDERSON, D. D. 

preach without a license from an officer of the crown. In 1712 Mr. 
Valentine Wightman, from Groton, Connecticut, preached with con- 
siderable success. This clergyman was invited to the city bj* a 
Baptist brewer, named Nicholas Eyers, who organized the first con- 
gregation. The following petition appears among the public records 
of New York of 1721 : 

" To his Excellency William Burnet, Esq., Captain General and Governor-in-Chief 
of the province of New York and New Jersey, and the territories depending on 
them in America, and Vice-Admiral of the same. 
"The humble petition of Nicholas Eyers, brewer, a Baptist teacher in the city of 
New York. 

" Sheweth unto your Excellency that on the first Tuesday of February, 1715, at a 
general quarter sessions of the peace held at the city of New York, the hired house 
of your petitioner, situate in the broad street of this city, between the house of John 
Michel Eyers and Mr. John Spratt, was registered for an Anabaptist meeting-house 
within this city. That the petitioner has it certified under the hands of sixteen in- 
habitants of good faith and credit, that he had been a public teacher to a Baptist 
congregation within the city for four years, and some of them for less. That h3 has 
it certified by the Hon. Eip Van Dam, Esq., one of his Majesty's council for the pro- 
vince of New York, to have hired a house in this city from him January 1st, 1720, 
only to be a public house for the Baptists, which he still keeps ; and as he has ob- 
tained from the Mayor and Recorder of this city an ample certificate of his good be- 
havior and innocent conversation, he therefore humbly prays : 
" May it please your Excellency 

"To grant and permit this petitioner to execute the ministerial function of a min- 
ister within this city to a Baptist congregation, and to give him protection therein 
according to His Majesty's gracious indulgence extended towards the Protestants 
dissenting from the Established Church, he being willing to comply with all that is 
required by the act of toleration from dissenters of that persuasion in Great Britain, 
and being owned for a reverend brother by other Baptist teachers. And as in duty 
bound the petitioner shall ever pray, &c. 

" Nicholas Eyees." 

Mr. Eyers organized a church of twelve members in 1724, who 
purchased lots and built a house of worship on Gold street. After 
about eight years' existence the congregation numbered only twenty- 
four members, and, being left without a pastor, under great pecuniary 
embarrassments, was disbanded. The present First congregation 
originated in 1745, when Jeremiah Dodge, a member of the Fishkill 
Baptist Church, settled in New York, and opened his house for public 
worship. In 1753 the number was so small that they united with 
the Scotch Plains Church, New Jersey, with the understanding that 
Elder Benjamin Miller, the pastor of that church, should preach 
occasionally in New York. The attendance increased, and a rigging- 
loft was hired in Horse and Cart Lane, now William street, where 
worship was held for several years. On the 14th of March, 1760, a 

21 



REV. THOMAS D. ANDERSON, D-D. 

small meeting-house was opened, which they bad erected on pur- 
chased ground in Gold street. Twenty-seven members of the Scotch 
Plains Church, having taken letters of dismission, the New York 
congregation was reorganized on the 19th of June, 1762, Rev. John 
Gano becoming the pastor. In two or three years the members had 
increased to two hundred, and the meeting house was considerably en- 
larged. The war of the revolution scattered the congregation. The 
ordinance of baptism was administered April 28th, 1776, and not 
again until September, 1784. Mr. Gano, "a firm patriot and a brave 
man," served as chaplain. He returned to New York after its evac- 
uation by the British in November, 1783, and collected together 
"about thirty-seven members of the church out of above two 
hundred." The meeting-house was repaired, having been used as a 
store-house and stable for horses. The congregation, in two years, 
again numbered more than two hundred members. In March, 1801, 
the meeting-house was removed, to make room for a new building. 
A stone edifice was erected, at a cost of about twenty -five thousand 
dollars, which was opened in May of the following year. In 1805 
there were two hundred and fifty-three members, and in 1809 they 
numbered five hundred and sixty-four. At different periods much 
dissension occurred in the church, growing out of questions of doc- 
trine and church discipline. Among others pastors was Rev. William 
Parkinson, of Fredericktown, Maryland, who resigned in 1810, after 
a service of more than thirty-five years. From this church sprung 
the Second, or Bethel, Zoar, Abyssinian, Bethesda, and several other 
churches. Between seventy and eighty members united with the 
Bethesda Church, of which Dr. Parkinson became pastor. In July, 
1841, Rev. Dr. Cone assumed the pastorship, having preached in the 
Oliver street Baptist Church eighteen years and two months. The 
church was reduced to about two hundred members, and was much 
in debt Prosperity returned under the ministry of Dr. Cone. The 
building until recently occupied by the congregation, on the corner 
of Broome and Elizabeth streets, was constructed, and opened 
February 20th, 1842. The cost of the whole property was about 
seventy -five thousand dollars, a portion of which was paid by the sale 
of the lots in Gold street for thirty-three thousand dollars. In 1848 
the number of members was six hundred and two. The number is 
now about seven hundred. The regular Sunday School has three 
hundred and fifty children, and a Mission School as many more. A 
flourishing Industrial School is held on each Saturdaj^, and is 

22 



REV. THOMAS D . ANDERSON, D. D. 

crowded chiefly with Irish and German children. More recently the 
church in Broome street was sold, and a magnificent edifice was erected 
for the congregation in the upper part of the city, on the corner of 
Thirty-ninth street and Park Avenue. It was dedicated October 1st, 
1871. 

The general statistics of the Baptists in the United States are as 
follows : 

Associations 799 

Churches 15, 143 

Ordained ministers 8,787 

Baptisms last year 70, 172 

Total membership 1,221,349 

In membership Georgia leads off with 134,337; Virginia follows with 122,120, and 
then comes New York with 100,616. In the British provinces there are 45,145 Bap- 
tists; in Europe, 260,541; in Africa, 2,101; in Asia, 21,064; in the West Indies, 
22,749; in Australasia, 4,321 — making a grand total of 1,746,414. These figures are 
not perfect, but they show a near approximation to the actual numbers. 

"We take the following eloquent passage from Dr. Anderson's 
"Election Sermon " on " The Home and the Nation :" 

"Most favorable for permanence is our location. We are planted on fresh soil, 
where no incrustation from the debris of decayed ages held bound the germ of fr^e 
principles, or stunted its growth. No moldering antiquity threw its baleful 
shadows over our inheritance, chilling the earnest endeavor, or mildewing the first 
fruits of our toil. Wuile defenceless, the sea rolled its protection of waves between 
us and harm; and our rigorous climate and unsubdued forests had but small attrac- 
tions to the east-loving lust of dominion. The immense territories embraced within 
our borders afforded ample room for the most rapid increase of population, and the 
cheapness of our unsold land places within the reach of all the means of subsistence 
and comfort. There is demand for labor in joining our distances: opportunity for 
skill in the construction of implements of industry, that we may avail ourselves of 
our exhaustless resources; trade and commerce are necessities of our variously con- 
ditioned, prosperous, and widely-scattered inhabitants. In one region we have the 
pine and the hemlock battling with the winter storm, to be exchanged for the live 
oak and the hickory flourishing under milder skies; here the autumnal fields were 
with the yellow grain, and there the cotten and rice whiten the plantation, or the 
cane yields its sweetness almost beneath a tropic sun. The mines of one neighbor- 
hood send forth the load, the iron, and the copper; those of another the silver and 
the gold, while interlacing all run the imperishable veins of coal. Pavers rise in 
our mountains, and, flowing thousands of miles, receiving through navigable tribu- 
taries the drainage of a continent, find still on our own coasts their outlets to the 
sea, while everywhere homes, palpitating to the throb of kindred joys, like pulses, 
transmit the same vital current to the extremities, and thus bind the remotest mem- 
bers of the confederacy in one organic, living Union." 

Dr. Anderson is a man of striking appearance. Tall and thin, he 
stands perfectly erect, and has a proud, commanding air, which, how 

23 



REV. THOMAS D. ANDERSON, D. D. 

ever, undoubtedly proceeds more from habit than intention. He has 
a long head, rising full and large in the crown, and covered with a 
bountiful growth of silken, iron-grey hair, which falls about in grace- 
ful confusion. His features are small, but thoroughly intellectual ; 
his complexion is dark, and his eyes, of the same hue, are bright and 
piercing. He is courteous and affable, while there is always a well- 
sustained dignity about him. In conversing he speaks with thought- 
fulness and deliberation, evidently seeking to be exact in all his 
statements, and not showing much patience with those who talk un- 
reflectingly. He is a scholarly man, having a mind already enriched 
with high culture, and still believing itself but on the threshold of 
the flight to which it aspires. Every branch of learning awakens his 
intellectual energies ; but all that he seeks and all that he gains is for 
use in the one cherished purpose of making plain the truths of re- 
ligion. Measuring duty by the keenest perceptions of conscience, he 
never knowingly falls short of any of its requirements, while the en- 
thusiasm as well at the comfort of his life are found in his prized and 
well-assured faith. 

Dr. Anderson is one of the most brilliant orators in the New 
York pulpit. During his residence in Washington, at a period when 
the Senate was composed of intellectual giants, it was his custom to 
repair to its chamber, and listen, with absorbed interest, to the 
eloquent debates. Among others, he heard the reply of Webster to 
Hayne, and relates how entranced he was, particularly with the mag- 
nificent and well-remembered peroration. Standing now a public 
speaker himself, ordained to preach repentance, filled with a zeal to 
reach the hearts and minds of men, the influence of those scenes in 
the Senate is still upon him. He opens before him a sermon couched 
in polished language and consummate in argument. It is not merely 
his lips, but his soul is possessed with his theme ; his mellow voice 
rings forth, and with tongue, eyes, gestures, and the whole man, he 
sways and fascinates the breathless multitude. His language is plain 
in its meaning and vigorously applied, and his illustrations, which 
take a range as wide as his learning and fancy, are as pointed as they 
are beautifully expressed. Impassioned in utterance and action, there 
is no limit to his comprehensiveness of mind ; and, as his subject may 
expand and excite, it stimulates to grander thought and moves to 
more impressive tones. With all the glow and beauty of eloquence, 
he has all the sincerity and solemnity which best become the 
Christian teacher. 24 



REV. THOMAS ARMITAGE, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE FIFTH AVENUE BAPTIST 
CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




EV. DB. THOMAS ABMITAGE was born in England, 
in 1819, and came to America in 1838, at the age of 19 
years. He is a scion of the old Armitage stock which 
sprung from Sir John Armitage, of Bemsley, England, 
was made a baron by Charles I., in 1640. Sir John was 
5^3 the progenitor of the present Sir Elnauali Armitage, a member 
of Parliament. The mother of Dr. Armitage was an exceedingly 
pious woman of the Methodist persuasion, who died when he was six 
years of age, making it an especial prayer that her eldest son, 
Thomas, " might be converted, and become a good minister of the 
gospel of Christ." Says another: "He was, from his mother's death, 
constantly subject to serious religious impressions, and at the age of 
twelve was hopefully converted to Grod. His impressions were deep- 
ened in early youth by reading the ' Journal of John Nelson ' and 
Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress.' While listening to a sermon from 
the text, ; Is it well with thee?' he was overwhelmed with a view of 
his lost state, fell on his knees in the midst of the congregation, which 
was assembled in an upper room, and cried aloud for mercy. The 
minister ceased preaching, and all the church engaged in prayer for 
the lad. He was converted, and joined the church the very next 
day. He immediately commenced the exercise of his gifts, and at 
that early age gave promise of great usefulness as an ambassador of 
the cross. At the age of fifteen he was licensed to exhort in the 
Methodist church, and six months after was licensed to preach, being 
still in his sixteenth year. He refused at first to take the latter 
license, but was persuaded to do so by the promises that an older 
minister should go with him on his preaching tours. He prepared 
to preach his first sermon with fear and trembling, writing the sketch 
of it while on his knees in prayer for Divine aid. This course in 
preparing his remarks he long continued, regularly, and we believe 

25 



REV. THOMAS ARMITAGE, D. D. 

he very frequently observes it still, especially when pressed under a 
deep sense of ministerial responsibility. His text was Matt, xi., 
28 — 'Come unto me, all ye that labor,' &c. This discourse was de- 
livered at Altercliff Common, near Sheffield, in the presence of Kev. 
3. Beedle, the minister appointed to accompany him on the occasion 
and report his success to the quarterly conference. Its delivery was 
a memorable time in his history. A number of persons were deeply 
sonvicted of sin, and three of them were hopefully converted Thus 
the approbation of God was manifested in the beginning of his 
ministry." 

He labored with success for three or four years as a local preacher, 
and it was much desired that he should go upon a circuit as a trav- 
eling preacher. His attention, however, had been directed to the 
United States, and hither he came to enjoy our liberal institutions 
and cultivate the promising field of religious labor. He was first 
sent to a church in Suffolk county, Long Island, then to "Watervliet, 
Albany county, N. Y., and next to the Garretson Station Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, in Pearl street, Albany, and subsequently to 
other point?. At all these places he inaugurated extensive revivals, 
one of which, in Albany, in 1842-3, was of extraordinary fruitful- 
ness. He occupied an eminent and influential position in the 
Methodist Church, but at length became a Baptist. The following 
is an account of the manner of his conversion : 

" In 1839, he was invited to supply, temporarily, a church in 
Brooklyn, L. I. Eev. Jacob Knapp was aiding Bev. S. Ilsley, pastor 
of the Baptist Church, in a protracted meeting. Mr. Armitage heard 
that some of the candidates were to be immersed by Mr. Ilsley, and, 
having never witnessed such a sight, attended He was immediately 
overwhelmed with a consciousness of its fidelity to the Gospel. 
His heart was melted and his eyes filled with tears. He took with 
him to that scene a heart as bigoted as that of Saul of Tarsus, but 
was disarmed and deeply convinced of his own error. He inquired, 
is not this the gospel method ? He went home to investigate ; but, 
having no books on that subject at command, and no Baptist friend 
to take him by the hand or aid him, his convictions gradually wore 
away. But when in Albany, in 1843, bearing that the Bevs. M. 
Swan and Cooley were to baptize a large company of persons, he 
went to witness the scene. Again his conviction returned with in- 
creasing force. He then resolved, standing in the crowd at the bap- 
tismal water, that he would investigate the subject without delay. 

26 



REV. THOMAS ARMITAGE, D. D. 

He got Pengilly, Woolsey, Carson, and other works, and continued 
his investigations from 1843 to 1848, and came out a thorough Bap- 
tist in doctrine, practice, and church government. It was a hard 
struggle. For six months before he resigned his pastoral charge and 
left the Methodist Episcopal Church, he could not rest — sleep de- 
parted. But he overcame at last, and his resolution was fixed. It 
is proper to say that he expressed, at the time of his examination in 
the Methodist Church, objection to their form of government, and 
doubt of the doctrines of falling from grace and sinless perfection in 
this life, as well as of the ordinances, points on which they allow 
great latitude of thought among their ministers. He was baptized 
by Bev. Dr. Welch into the fellowship of the Pearl Street Baptist 
Church, Albany, in the presence of an overflowing congregation ; 
scores of them had been brought to God under his ministry. 

" Soon after this, a very large council was called by the Pearl 
street Church to ordain him. Dr. Welch was moderator, Bev. W. S. 
Clapp clerk, and Elder Alfred Bennet was one of the examiners, and 
laid on hands with others, when the ordaining prayer was offered. 
He had previously obtained an honorable dismission from the Bev. 
John Lindsey, with a certificate highly commendatory as a faithful 
Christian minister. Thus, at the age of twenty-nine, he was received 
as a minister of the Baptist denomination." 

He was shortly called to the Norfolk street Church, New York, 
over which congregation he is still settled. He accepted this call at 
the dying request of the Bev. George Benedict, former pastor of the 
church, who said, with tears — "Brother Armitage, if you do refuse 
this call it will be the most painful act of your life." When about 
twenty-eight years of age, he received the honorary degree of A. M. 
from the Madison University, N. Y., and at thirty-four the degree of 
D. D. was conferred by Georgetown College, Ky. 

Dr. Armitage's congregation now worship in a church on Forty- 
sixth street, near the corner of Fifth avenue. The removal up town 
was in 1860, and the new location is not less then four miles from 
the old one. On the thirtieth anniversary of the congregation, Dr. 
Armitage stated that during that time it had numbered two thou- 
sand two hundred and fifty members, altogether; had then 686, leav- 
ing 1,564 who had died or joined other churches. In 1860 it had 
only $2,800, while in 1872 the Church property was worth $200,000 
with a debt of only $40,000. 

In June, 1856, Dr. Armitage became the President of the Amer- 

27 



EEV. THOMAS ARMITAGE, D. D. 

ican Bible Union, which was organized in New York, on the 10th of 
June, 1850, "to procure and circulate the most faithful version of the 
sacred Scriptures in all languages throughout the world." Appro- 
priations have been made for the circulation of the Chinese and the 
Karen Scriptures, as well as the Siamese, German, French, Italian, 
Spanish, and English, and the revision of the French, Italian, 
Spanish, and English, has been undertaken. "But our principal 
efforts, from the origin of the Union," says a report, "and our largest 
expenditures, have been devoted to the enterprise of procuring a 
thorough and faithful revision of the English Scriptures. This is 
believed to be the most important, as likely to be read by the 
greatest number of persons, to influence most largely the translations 
in other languages, and to exercise the most extensive and permanent 
control over the destinies of mankind." The scholars selected to 
commence the revision were Rev. Dr. T. J. Conant, late professor in 
the Rochester Theological Seminary ; Rev. Dr. H. B. Hackett, pro- 
fessor in Newton Theological Seminary ; Professor Dr. E. Rodiger, 
professor in the Royal University in Halle, Germany, and Drs. Bliss 
and Kendrick. The argument for the revision may be briefly stated 
thus: Since the common English version was made, many ancient 
manuscripts have been discovered not at that time known to exist, 
and some of them are acknowledged to be of the most valuable and 
reliable character. From the years 1600 to 1611, the date of the 
common version, Great Britain was not celebrated for any great ad- 
vances in the science of Biblical philology and criticism. A very 
large proportion of the time of many preachers is spent in correcting 
the version from which they preach. Many words are not now or- 
dinarily understood in the sense in which they were used when the 
common English version was made. Many words used have become 
obsolete, and their meaning is unknown to the general reader. The 
great number of words and phrases that do not express the meaning 
of the original. The addition of words by the translators. The fact 
that the division into chapters and verses is often subversive of the 
sense, and far more frequently breaks in upon the necessary connec- 
tion of historical facts or arguments. Errors of punctuation. The 
obscurity in the correspondence of similar passages in the Old and 
New Testament Grammatical incorrectness. Profane expressions. 
Expressions offensive to modesty. Because the errors of the English 
version are frequently transferred to the versions for the heathen, 
and because correct versions for the heathen do not agree with the 

28 



REV. THOMAS ARHITAGE, D. D. 

English version. Sectarianism of the common version. Because the 
erroneous translations are used to deduce arguments against the 
Bible. 

The Bible Union is not sectarian, as is the general belief. Says 
a statement : " The preliminary revisers were selected as the very 
best scholars that could be procured, from nine different denomina- 
tions. The final committee is chosen without any reference to de- 
nominations. 

The work is supported by voluntary contributions, life member- 
ships, life directorships, bequests, and the sale of the publica- 
tions. The receipts of the first year were $5,595 55, and of the 
seventh year, (1856,) $45,203 79. Some embarrassment was ex- 
perienced by reason of the war, obliging retrenchment and delay in 
the publication of the works. The expenses are now sixty-seven 
thousand dollars per annum. Up to 1863 a sum not less than two 
hundred thousand dollars had been expended for literary labor and 
a library. Of the various publications, including revisions of the 
Book of Job in various forms, Matthew in part, Mark, Luke, John, 
Acts, Ephesians, Thessalonians, in various forms, Hebrews, Phile- 
mon, First Peter to Bevelations, inclusive, there had been issued, in 
1860, 1,060,121 copies. A large library, of inestimable value, has 
been collected for the work at a cost of about fifty thousand dollars. 
The catalogue embraces photographs, lithographed fac similes of 
some of the most ancient manuscripts of the Bible now in existence, 
copies of every edition of the Bible ever issued, which are of any 
antiquarian value, and the works of the great scholars in different 
languages who have ever directed their attention to this subject 
Among other rare works are the Complutensian Polyglot, in six 
volumes, printed in 1513, containing the Scriptures in Hebrew, 
Greek, Chaldaic, and Latin ; a manuscript written in the fifth century ; 
& fac simile of an old Sclavic manuscript New Testament, magnifi- 
cently illuminated ; a Bible printed in 1473 ; an illuminated Bible 
printed in 1480 ; and a lithographic copy of a manuscript written in 
the third century, discovered in the monastery of St Catherine on 
Mount Sinai, beside other rare relics of antiquity. 

The published revisions are works of great interest to the Bible 
reader and student. Each book contains an elaborate introduction 
and the Hebrew or Greek text, and the King James and the revised 
versions in parallel columns, with copious notes. The Book of Job 
may be particularly mentioned for its depth of erudition and beauty 

29 



REV. THOMAS ARMITAGE, D. D. 

of typography. Forty-nine thousand copies, bound, of the version 
in English have already been distributed ; also a large number in 
other languages. 

Dr. Armitage is of the medium height, and has a well-propor- 
tioned, erect figure. With a light complexion and brown hair, he 
has small, bright, hazel eyes, which have a constant and peculiar 
twinkle. The expression of his face is one of mingled intelligence 
and kindliness. As he converses it is lit with animation, and his eyes 
sparkle like two diamonds. His manners are easy, graceful, and 
cordial. There are few men of more prepossessing powers of mien 
and speech. He fascinates strangers and delights friends as much 
with one as the other. The heart and mind fall at once under the 
influence of his impulsive, generous warmth of manner, and of his 
kindly, just, and liberal sentiments. He stands to the gaze a pol- 
ished gentleman, and he wins his way to your esteem and affection 
by exalted worthiness as a man. 

He is a person of hopeful, elastic spirits, being neither over- 
elated with success nor depressed by defeat. He has a courage for 
any undertaking, and a patience which can wait long for victory. 
Once embarked in any scheme, it enlists bis boundless enthusiasm 
and awakens giant energies. He will have nothing to do with an 
enterprise which cannot kindle this ardor of soul, bat in behalf oi 
those that do he will bear the heaviest burden of its cares, and still 
ask the meanest of its laurels. He is conscientious in the discharge 
of every duty devolving upon him, regardless of personal ease and 
even health. In truth, he is an earnest, successful worker in every 
sphere of Christian effort, inspiring those who falter by a heroism 
which is sublime. 

Dr. Armitage is an eloquent and powerful preacher. The follow- 
ing is a truthful description of him as he appears in the pulpit : 
" His voice is clear, musical, soft, and silvery. He has great power 
over it. His gentle tones seem to creep quietly into every ear in the 
house while he reads the opening hymn. The audience listens, as 
though it never heard that most familiar hymn before. His sermons 
are invariably composed of climaxes, which rise, like inverted 
pyramids, higher and higher to the close. "When he begins to ascend 
the steps of the advancing argument his voice falls to a low, soft 
tone. The forefinger of his right hand is raised, pointing horizontally 
over the audience. At every step of progress he lifts his hand and 
voice together, upward and upward still, till the climax is reached, 

30 



KEY. THOMAS ARMITAGE, D. D. 

when, raising his eyes from the manuscript, in a tone of thunder he 
lays the top stone of the argument. It would seem that the whole 
vocabulary of the English language is at his command. In his own 
pulpit he more frequently preaches without the manuscript than 
otherwise, whether he has written the discourse or not." 

Dr. Armitage is a born orator in the fullest sense. As he weaves 
his beautiful imaginings, or as he springs into the realms of a wild, 
impassioned eloquence, he equally fixes the attention and enchains 
the sensibilities. His thoughts are highly original, they glitter with 
a chaste and ardent fancy, and are infused with the vigor and frank- 
ness peculiar to his own nature. Endowed with the greater gifts 
of eloquence, a man of extensive learning and the highest social 
culture, he justly holds a foremost place among the eminent ex- 
pounders of Divine truth, and in the ranks of upright and popular 
men. 

31 



REV. LUCIUS W. BANCROFT, D. D., 

RECTOR OF CHRIST ( JBX > ISCOJE»A.D CHURCH, 
BROOKLYN. 




)EV. DR. LUCIUS W. BANCROFT was born in Wor- 
cester, Mass., August 27th, 1827. He was graduated at 
Brown University, in 1852, and in theology at the Epis- 
copal Seminary at Alexandria, Virginia, in 1856. In 
^fvf the same year, while still in Alexandria, he was made a dea- 
S2 con, by Bishop Meade, of Virginia, and in 1858, a priest in Prov- 
idence, by Bishop Clark, of Rhode Island. He had taken the 
position of assistant rector at St. John's Church. Providence, in which 
he remained about two years. He then traveled in Europe for a 
time, and on his return took temporary charge of St. Paul's Church, 
Boston, for six months. After this, he spent two years as rector of 
Christ Church, Bridgeport. He was next elected Professor of Ec- 
clesiastical History in the Episcopal Seminary at Gambier, Ohio, 
where he remained five years, and then filled the same chair in the 
Episcopal Seminary in Philadelphia, for a short time, when, in 1869, 
he accepted a call to Christ Church, corner of Clinton and Harrison 
streets, Brooklyn. He received the degree of I>. D. from Utica 
College, about ten years since. 

Christ Church parish was organized on the 17th of May, 1835, 
but it was about two years later before stated public worship was held 
in a chapel erected on the corner of Pacific and Court streets. The 
pulpit was temporarily supplied until February, 1838, when Rev. 
Kingston Goddard became rector. Such was the increase of the 
parish that on the 26th of June, 1841, the corner-stone of a new 
church edifice was laid, the site being the liberal gift of Nicholas 
Luqueer, Esq., a member of the body, and a wealthy citizen. A 
substantial, imposing, and spacious building of brown freestone was 
erected, duly consecrated on the 28th of July, 1842, and occupied 

32 



REV. LUCIUS W. BANCROFT, D. D. 

for public worship on the following Sunday, the 3d of August. 
The valuation of the property is over $100,000, and there is no debt. 
Mr. Goddard resigned in April, 1841, and in the succeeding June, 
Eev. Dr. Stone accepted a call to the rectorship. In January, 1853, 
the Eev. Dr. E. H. Canfield became the successor of Dr. Stone. 
During the ministry of Dr. Canfield a debt of $13,500 was paid, and 
a Mission Chapel was erected on the corner of Clinton and Luqueer 
streets, at a cost of about $13,000. From 1853 to 1863, ten years 
of Dr. Canfield's labors, the congregation contributed for charitable 
objects the sum of $92,589.28. In the same period there were in 
the parish 813 baptisms, 312 confirmations, 184 marriages, 433 
funerals, and 1697 public services. The congregation consists of 
about 200 families. When Dr. Canfield resigned the rectorship, 
Dr. Bancroft was called, and under his efficient labors the parish 
still maintains its high rank as a pious and liberal body of Chris- 
tians. 

Dr. Bancroft is tall and erect, with an intellectual head. His face 
is amiable, but it is one of those which bespeaks the rigid princi- 
ples of the man. In his manners and disposition he is naturally 
reserved. He shows a strict politeness to all, and falls into an easy 
conversation, but there is always a noticeable formality and reserve 
in both speech and actions. His tastes are all scholarly and do- 
mestic. In the pursuit of learning, in his own pastoral duties, and 
in the home circle, he finds all the influences to which he surrenders 
himself His preaching excels in the particulars of a deep piety, 
and intimate knowledge with all religious subjects. His life in the 
ministry has been unobtrusive, as far as any attempt to gain pub- 
lic fame is concerned, but it has been characterized by a conscien- 
tiousness and ability in his work, which have secured the utmost 
prosperity of his parishes. He is admired wherever he is known 
for his learning, consistency of personal conduct, and his zeal in 
the ministerial labors. 

33 



REV. ALFRED B. BEACH, D. D., 

RECTOR OF ST. PETER'S EPISCOPAL, CHURCH. 
1VEW YORK. 




)EV. DE. ALFRED B. BEACH has been settled in the city 
of New York, as the Sector of St. Peter's Episcopal 
Church in West Twentieth street, for over twenty years. 
He was born at Sheldon, Franklin county, Vermont, Sep- 
tember 9th, 1821. His early studies were at the academy at 
Cheshire, Connecticut, then under the charge of Rev. Dr. Allen 
C. Morgan. He graduated at Trinity College, Hartford, in 1841, and 
in theology at the General Episcopal Seminary, New York, in 1845. 
During the same year he was admitted to deacon's orders at Christ 
church, Hartford, by Bishop Brownell, and in 1847 to priest's orders 
at Christ church, Cooperstown, New York, by Bishop Delancey. His 
first place of settlement was at Cooperstown, in 1845, where he re- 
mained until November, 1848, when he went to St. John's church, 
Canandaigua, New York. He officiated at St. John's until May. 
1853, when he removed to New York, having accepted a call to his 
present rectorship. Di\ Beach married a daughter of the dis- 
tinguished Mr. Justice Nelson, late of the United States Supreme 
Court. 

The history of St. Peter's church dates back to the year 1827, 
when services were commenced in the chapel of the General Theolo- 
gical Seminary in West Twentieth street, by the professors of the in- 
stitution, and a Sunday School was opened by the students. At this 
period the neighborhood was thinly settled, and the effort was under- 
taken as a mere missionary work. Such was its success, however, 
that the Rev. Dr. Benjamin I. Haight, now and for many years a dis- 
tinguished assistant minister of Trinity parish, was called as the rector. 
The parish was incorporated May 9th, 1831, and Dr. Haight was 
called July 13th, 1831. Steps were taken to provide a proper church. 
The corner-stone for a church was laid October 8th, 1831, on West 
Twentieth street, between Eighth and Ninth avenues, and on the 

34 




<i^W j&, J?4>*<*!f. 



REV. ALFRED B. BEACH, D. P. 

completion of the building it was occupied by a congregation of still 
increasing numbers. In a few years still greater accommodations be- 
came necessary, as the congregation had become one of the most im- 
portant in the city. Accordingly, in 1836-37, the large stone edifice 
now occupied was erected on lots adjoining the first structure. This 
property cost one hundred and eighteen thousand dollars. A debt of 
fifty thousand dollars has been paid, and an additional building has 
been erected. The original church edifice has been altered into a rec- 
tory. There are at present about three hundred communicants, and six 
hundred and fifty children in the Sunday School. The superintendent 
is George P. Quackenbos, A.M., the eminent author of school books. 
Dr. Beach received his degree of D. D. from Columbia College in 
June, 1857. He has published various sermons and addresses. He 
was a member of the Ecclesiastical Court appointed to ti*y the case of 
the Eev. Stephen H. Tyng, Jr. He discharged his duties with much 
dignity and learning. 

He is of the medium height, and equally proportioned. His face 
shows intellectuality and much force of character. The features are 
regular, and the brow is especially prominent. In his expression 
there is some little sternness, but this is more a token of the decision 
and firmness which characterize him than of any want of gentleness 
in either manners or speech. He is a man of fixed opinions, self- 
reliant and positive in regard to his course of action; but on the other 
hand, he is never hasty in forming conclusions or in his actions. You 
find him conscientious in everything. His line of duty is always well 
defined, and it is never deviated from in the slightest particular. 
Hence it is not remarkable that he has secured so large an influence 
among his people, and in fact in his whole denomination. 

Always patient, self-sacrificing and earnest in his ministerial work, 
he has taken the certain means of making it of the highest advantage 
to his fellow creatures and the church at large. True and devoted to 
his doctrines, he has maintained them because of his love for them 
and because it was his duty, but never in any spirit of mere hostility 
to the opinions or prejudices of other men. He stands fixedly to the 
doctrines and government of the church of which he is a minister, 
and it is for these that he contends in all their purity and sanctity, 
and not for the persecution of any man for his opinions or actions. 

Dr. Beach's preaching is marked by the same solid practical 
features which characterize him in other respects. All his views 
have a scope and power which arrest attention. He speaks with 

35 



EEV. ALFRED B. BEACH, D. D. 

deliberation, and both tone and manner have a serious impressiveness. 
While be is scholarly in his mode of discussion, he is not less partial 
to the common sense branch of all subjects. His sermons please 
and instruct : they lift the hearer to a more elevated spirituality, 
and cause a closet' communing with one's own conscience. They 
have scholarship and inspiration, and they have also the calm tender 
pleading, which first softens and then saves the human heart from its 
sins. 

This is a ministry which has been not only successful, but in 
which the purity of character, and the devoted labor of the indi- 
vidual must stand as an example to all men forever. True to every 
duty as a clergyman, a citizen, and in every private relation, Dr. 
Beach has made the actions of his life teachers of principle to his 
fellow-men. 

36 






n 



0Z,O^u2^ 



REY. HENRY WARD BEECHER, 

PASTOR OF PLYMOUTH CONGBEGATIONAIi 
CHUKCH. BBOOKLYN. 




^0 CLERGYMAN in the United States has attracted 
}<$^V to himself the wide-spread attention which has been 
bestowed upon the Eev. Henry Ward Beecher. His 
position in the religious, political, literary, and social 
world is one of commanding influence, and his great and 
varied talents are always most conspicuous. He has been 
discussed from every standpoint of criticism, and still is a man of the 
widest popularity. 

Eev. Henry Ward Beecher is the son of the late Rev. Dr. Ly- 
man Beecher, and was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, June 24th, 
1813. Dr. Lyman Beecher was one of the most distinguished Con- 
gregational clergymen and scholars of his day, and he reared a 
large family, all of whom have obtained distinction in some of the 
scholarly walks of life. Several of the sons are clergymen, and 
Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, authoress of " Uncle Tom's Cabin," and 
other works, is a distinguished daughter. Henry Ward was grad- 
uated at Amherst College, in 1834, and studied theology with his 
father at Lane Seminary, Cincinnati. In 1837, in his twenty-fourth 
year, he accepted his first charge as a Presbyterian minister at 
Lawrenceburg, Indiana, where he remained two years. He next 
removed to Indianapolis, where he continued eight years, until 
1847. He was a popular preacher in the West, having those 
powers — natural eloquence and fearless independent character — 
which are so highly valued by the people of that section. 

In 1847, he accepted a call to his present charge as pastor of 
Plymouth Congregational Church, Brooklyn. He left the West with 
many regrets, scarcely believing that a city like Brooklyn was the 
proper field of labor for him. His peculiar style of preaching had 

'37 



HEKKY WARD BEECHEE. 

never been heard there ; and, in fact, it was so much of an innova- 
tion upon the kind which was in vogue, that its success might well 
be deemed doubtful. 

The congregation which called him was a new organization of 
orthodox Congregational believers. They had purchased the church 
property on Cranberry and Orange streets, formerly occupied by the 
Presbyterian Congregation of the Eev. Dr. Samuel PL Cox, and 
were chiefly New England people. 

The following is an interesting historical account of this congre- 
gation : 

" Plymouth Church stands upon ground comprising seven lots, 
running through from Cranberry to Orange streets. It was pur- 
chased in 1823 of John and Jacob M. Hicks for the erection of 
an edifice for the use of " The First Presbyterian Church." The 
population of Brooklyn was then less than 10,000. It was re- 
garded by cautious men as a hazardous enterprise, for the church 
was built in what was then cultivated fields, and far out from the 
settled portion of the village, though now in the densest part of 
Brooklyn Heights. The pastors who labored on this ground were 
Rev. Joseph Sandford, from 1823 to 1829 ; Eev. Daniel L. Carroll, 
D. D., from 1829 to 1835; Rev. Samuel H. Cox. D. D., from 1837 
to 1847, when the Presbyterian Society built their present house of 
worship upon Henry street. In 1816 John T. Howard, then a mem- 
ber of the Church of the Pilgrims in Brooklyn, Rev. R. S. Storrs, 
Jr., pastor, learning that the premises were for sale, obtained the 
refusal of them from the trustees at the price of $20,000, and con- 
sulted with David Hale, of the Tabernacle Church, New York, as to 
the expediency of establishing a new Congregational Church at this 
location. Encouraged by the support of Mr. Hale, Mr. Howard 
completed the contract of purchase on June 11th, 1846. Possession 
was given on the 10th of May, 1847. The first meeting of those 
interested in the establishment of the new Church was held at the 
house of Henry C. Bowen, on Saturday evening, May 8th, 1847. 
There were present David Hale, of New York ; Ira Payne, John T. 
Howard, Charles Rowland, David Griffin, and Henry C. Bowen, of 
Brooklyn. It was there resolved, ' that religious services shall be 
commenced, by Divine permission, on Sunday, the 16th day of May ;' 
and on that morning, in 1847, the meeting house in Cranberry street 
was opened for religious worship. 

" Henry Ward Beecher, who was then pastor of the Second Pres- 

38 



HENRY "WARD BEECHER. 

byterian Church, in Indianapolis, had visited New York at this time, 
at the request of the American Home Missionary Society, to make a 
public address at its anniversary. He was invited to preach at the 
opening of this Church, and accordingly preached, both in the morn- 
ing and evening, to audiences which crowded every part of the 
building. On Monday evening, June 14th, 1847, the Church, by a 
unanimous vote, elected Henry Ward Beecher to be their pastor. 
On the 19th of August, Mr. Beecher wrote from Indianapolis accept- 
ing the pastorate. On Sunday, the 10th of October, 1847, he com- 
menced his labors. In the morning the Church was about three- 
fourths full, and entirely full in the evening. This continued to be 
the case for about four months, after which the building was gen- 
erally crowded both morning and evening. From the year 1849 to 
1866 there was a frequent recurrence of revivals at the Church, and 
large accessions to the number of its members. With a few excep- 
tions, consequent upon ill health, a visit to Europe and a lecturing 
tour in behalf of the abolition of slavery, Mr. Beecher has labored 
steadily at his post since 1847. He has a Summer vacation every 
year, which generally lasts upon an average about six weeks. 

" On the 13th of January, 1849, Plymouth Church was seriously 
damaged by fire, and it was decided that the Church should be 
entirely rebuilt. The corner-stone of this edifice was laid May 29 th, 
1849, and the building was completed so as to be occupied by the 
congregation on the first Sunday in January, 1850. The Church is 
105 feet long, 80 feet broad, and accommodates 2,800 people. Lec- 
ture rooms and school rooms were also built, and the entire cost of 
the Church was about $36,000, and the former also a large sum. In 
1866 a new organ was purchased at an expense of $22,000. In 1869 
the pew rents realized about $53,000. The Bethel, in Hicks street, 
has been built by the Church at a cost of about $75,000. School 
services on Sunday evenings, lectures and a free reading room are a 
part of the agencies of this Bethel. It has done and is doing the 
greatest amount of good to the more neglected part of the population. 
A new Bethel has been erected in another part of the city. In view 
of all these facts, Plymouth Church may be said to be a Church in 
earnest." 

In October, 1872, services took place during several days to com- 
memorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the organization of the 
congregation. A movement was inaugurated to raise fifty thousand 
dollars for the support of their nissiona. At the annual business 

39 



HENRY "WARD BEECHER. 

meeting of the trustees it was shown that there were 2,184 names 
upon the registry of the Church. From the treasurer's report, it 
appears that the annual collection amounted to $15,554 97 ; for the 
poor, $1,079 18 ; pew rentals, $60,000 ; contributions of three 
schools, $3,054 56. Total, $79,683 65. 

In 1856, Mr. Beecher took an active part in the Presidential con- 
test in favor of Fremont — not only with his pen, but by addressing 
mass meetings in different parts of the Northern States. As a popu- 
lar lecturer he has appeared very generally before the Lyceums of 
the country. He was one of the founders of the religious weekly 
paper called the Independent, of New York, and was for some time 
its editor. Later he founded the Christian Union, and is still its 
editor, and a large owner. He has published a volume of "Lectures 
to Young Men," a volume of " Star Papers," made up of his con 
tributions to the Independent, and other volumes of popular litera- 
ture. He edited the " Plymouth Collection of Hymns," which is 
one of the best and most diversified collections of sacred poetry in 
the English language, and is now in. use in the Congregational and 
other Churches. Six series of his sermons have been published in 
uniform volumes. Many of his occasional addresses have been pub- 
lished, and he has contributed much to the literary press. 

During the late war he went to England, where he addressed 
immense audiences in the principal cities in behalf of the cause of 
the Union. He produced a marked effect, particularly as the Con- 
federate agents made an attempt to put him down ; and probably 
accomplished more in influencing the English masses than any man 
who went abroad. There is a collection of handbills and posters, 
some of them printed in red ink, at the Brooklvn Historical Society, 
which were used to incite public feeling against him. In April, 1865, 
he went to Charleston, at the request of the Government, and deliv- 
ered an oration on the occasion of the raising of the old flag over 
Fort Sumter. 

Mr. Beecher is of medium height, solid sinewy figure, and has a 
large head, with a rather florid complexion. His features are regu- 
lar, and highly expressive of intellectuality, and a genial disposition. 
His step is quick, and he shows in every way that he is a thorough- 
going man, and as bold as he is generous. His eloquence is charac- 
terized by originality, logic, pathos, and not a little humor. While 
his voice is not a pleasant one, it is full of feeling, distinct and 

40 



HENRY WARD BEECHER. 

strong. He has a great deal of gesticulation, and sometimes his 
voice rings out to the utmost power of his capacious lungs. 

At the close of some very fine congregational singing, Mr. Beecher 
rises to begin his sermon. He commences in a moderate tone of 
voice, and confines himself to a pretty close reading of his notes. 
As he proceeds he warms up in his subject, grows eloquent, and 
succeeds in fixing the deepest attention by the force of his argu- 
ments, and the original and often humorous similes which he con- 
stantly introduces. He shakes back his hair, draws a long breath to 
be sure that his lungs are in order, withdraws a step or two from the 
desk, and folds his arms across his breast, as if for bands to keep 
him from breaking his ribs in the coming effort After all this pre- 
paration, instantaneously made, he at once soars to the highest efforts 
of oratory. At one moment tears are starting to almost every eye, 
and the next the congregation are in a broad smile, which sometimes 
ends in a loud laugh. He utters words of the keenest sarcasm, and 
then he "melts away into thoughts of holiness and love. At another 
time he gesticulates most violently ; he paces up and down the pulpit 
in great agitation ; he runs to first one corner of the desk and then 
the other ; pounds and shakes his fist, bends forward and backward ; 
and, finally, in a whirlwind of excitement, and in a voice of thunder, 
pours forth a torrent of language which the want of breath only 
induces him to suspend. He makes your heart bound with emotion ; 
he tempts the most solemn into smiles, and stands a wonder as an 
orator. That he is a mighty thinker, and one of the most powerful 
of living orators, cannot be denied. While he is speaking the old 
and young are held in wrapt attention, and there is no subject but 
what he discusses with singular originality and brilliancy. His ser- 
mons are very long, but never tiresome. The thoughts are profound 
and new, and they are demonstrated with ability and eloquence. 
His learning, ingenious arguments, and interweavings of pathos and 
humor make the whole discourse most effective. 

He is a man of genial disposition, and of warm attachments ; 
and he has secured idolizing friends. His sympathies are with all 
works of education and philanthropy, and he is altogether without 
sectarian prejudices. In truth, he is one who for many noble 
qualities of character, joined with extraordinary gifts as a preacher, 
has secured a wider public and private esteem than any man of 
his day. 

41 



REY. HENRY W. BELLOWS, D.D., 

PASTOR OF ATX SOT7I,S» TJIVITARTAZV CHURCH, 

NEW YORK;. 




IEV. DR. HENRY W. BELLOWS, pastor of All Souls' 
Unitarian Church, Fourth avenue, was born in Boston, 
June 11th, 1814. He was graduated at Harvard College 
in 1832, entered the divinity school at Cambridge in 1834, 
completed his course in 1837. On the 2d of January, 
1838, he was ordained pastor of the First Congregational 
Church, in New York. He was the principal originator of the Chris- 
tian Inquirer, a Unitarian paper of New York, in which he was the 
main writer from 1846 until the middle of 1850. In 1851 he 
received the degree of D. D. from Harvard. His present congrega- 
tion is the same over which he was first ordained, although they are 
now classed as Unitarians, and have twice changed their place of 
worship. Says another of Dr. Bellows: " He is a ready speaker and 
popular lecturer. His taste and connections lead him to intimate 
relations with artists, and engage him often in questions of a social 
and philanthropic character. He has spoken and published his 
views freely upon the prominent topics of the day, and inclines to 
deal with current events rather than scholastic studies. His occa 
sional contributions to the Christian Examiner are marked by inde 
pendence of thought and boldness of expressions." 

Dr. Bellows has published some twenty-five pamphlets and dis- 
courses, and some books. His "Phi Beta Kappa Oration," delivered 
in 1853 ; his famous defence of the drama, delivered in 1857 ; and 
" Treatment of Social Diseases," a course of lectures delivered before 
the Lowell Institute, Boston, also in the latter year, and a book of 
travel in Europe, ar® the most noted of his productions. He is the 
editor of the Liberal Christian, a prominent religious journal of New 
York 

Dr. Bellows is not a satisfied man. He is seriously disturbed 
.that men take so many roads to heaven, when they might all go by 

42 



REV HENRY W. BELLOWS, D. D. 

one. He has drawn up the articles of a new Christian covenant, 
and elaborated a system for a church platform on which every 
theologian can be accommodated with a seat Through wonderful 
study be has discovered a means by which ecclesiastical fire and 
water may be made to mingle, and by which the venom of sects can 
be changed into the milk of human kindness. It is a consolidation of 
Christianity. It is to overthrow the walls which keep (rod's child- 
ren apart. It is to tear up present creeds and take an enlarged view 
of the Bible. Dr. Bellows has this olive branch all ready, and longs 
to put it in the mouths of doves and send it throughout the earth ; 
but he shakes his head and says the times are not ripe for it, and 
probably never will be. Still, if he had his way, he would take all 
these creeds and send them to a paper-mill, and have a broad sheet 
made, on which should be written the covenant of a new and uni- 
versal church, and he would go forth first as an earthquake, and 
tumble down every altar, from the old cathedrals of Europe to 
the Methodist rookeries of the back- woods, and then, with the lamps 
of the virgins, he would — another Aladdin — raise up such a structure 
as the world had never seen ; and this should be not the church of 
a sect, but of mankind, and such should crown the hills of every 
land. 

From this pleasant dream of Dr. Bellows, it can be seen that he 
is a liberal-minded, large-hearted man. A few years ago he nearly 
committed clerical suicide. He delivered a ringing, thundering, de- 
fence of the poor, kicked, reviled drama, and absolutely recognized 
actors and actresses as worthy of salvation. The religious editors 
rushed breathless to their offices and exhausted their inkstands in 
besmearing him with ridicule and drenching him with wcath. His 
brethren of the ministry howled louder than a pack of wolves, and 
many orthodox families threatened to fly from the city inhabited by 
such a monster. For a minister — for a man claiming to respect his 
calling — to go out of his way to uphold the beastly, sore, corrupt 
drama, and to associate with the giddy, wicked, painted and padded 
creatures of the stage, it called for a straight-jacket, if not the spout 
of the hydrant. The panic was frightful and the threats were dia- 
bolical. The doctor stood in a slippery place. His enthusiasm for 
genius, his appreciation of an art, his liberal and kindly nature had 
carried him to an extreme position ; but in spite of ink, and wolves, 
and orthodox families, and scorn, and threats, he stood firm, and 
even partook of a dinner with the profane people. The editors again 

43 



REV. HENRY W. BELLOWS, D. D. 

desired to devour him, but it was shrewdly suspected that their 
chief object was to be black-mailed with a slice from the dinner. 
The doctor ate of the remarkably good cheer which such entertainers 
are sure to provide, and the food of wisdom and counsel which he 
had himself dispensed, was rendered more palatable in consequence. 
People who are just as anxious as anybody else to avoid fire and 
brimstone felt that one clergyman, at least, had sought to give them 
wings to rise, rather than, as usual, a millstone to hurry ihern down. 

When the war broke out, a great philanthropic thought took 
possession of Dr. Bellows. Everybody was crazy ; the young men 
were following the fife and drum, and a large number were disposed 
to think war merely a frolic ; but the doctor declared it was to be a 
serious business, and that disease would be more potent than even 
the bullet. He organized the Sanitary Commission, and a work was 
commenced which has no parallel in the history of humane enter- 
prises. The condition of matters in the camps and hospitals was of 
the worst possible character ; but from chaos there was produced 
system ; from ignorance came intelligence ; and, instead of everything 
conspiring to kill the soldier, science, natural laws, and humanity 
were all combined for his safety and relief. Dr. Bellows neglected every 
other duty save this one, to his mind of such vast national importance. 
He drew about him men of equal zeal ; he visited the camps and 
hospitals in every part of the country; he stormed at "red tape," 
and official stupidity, and had the satisfaction of witnessing 
the complete success of his system and plans, and the constant 
relief of untold suffering. The ministering spirits of this commission 
were on the battle-fields, and at every sick couch ; its watchfulness 
detected .every error of hospital management, and every want of the 
afflicted, while its influence in every department of the government, 
and with the people, was sufficient to make its authority efficient 
and its. means ample. In fact, the Sanitary Commission was the great 
philanthropic mission of the day. Dr. Bellows was its parent, its 
never flagging spirit, and its daily slave. Should his idea of a uni- 
versal church be but a dream ; should no actor or actress ever walk 
with him in the golden streets of the New Jerusalem, certainly his 
efforts in this newer scheme will adorn him with garlands forever. 

We wrote as follows of him at that time : "Any day at the New 

York office of the Commission, in Broadway, you may see a pale, 

thin-faced, modest bearing man. He attends to business as if he had 

been brought up in a counting-room, is distressed if anything goes 

44 



KEY. HENRY W. BELLOWS, D. D. 

wrong, and it is not the fault of his attention and energy if all doe? 
not go right When the sun of the South is blazing its fullest, and 
when the keen storms are sweeping along the Virginia mountains, 
he is ever thinking of comforts for the soldiers. And, then, how 
sadly he speaks of the sick beds and graves which, he tells you, are 
stretched from the rising to the setting sun. He has written and 
published various reports of the Commission, which are replete with 
interesting details and facts. He also delivers addresses on the sub- 
ject of the work, which are intended to keep the public informed 
of the vastness of the field, and the necessity of their constant sup- 
port Dr. Bellows possesses an amount of practical, homely sense. 
not common to men of his profession, and a familiarity with scientific 
subjects, which happily fit him for the position of president of the 
Commission, and have led to much of its success. Dreamer as he is, 
he has shown himself not the less an earnest worker. With a mind 
crowded with its imaginings of beauty, he has been able to do a. 
noble work amidst the surroundings of terrible war. 7 ' 

Dr. Bellows had his dream of a church edifice. It was to be the 
combined elegance of architecture, and every tower, and every arch, 
and every inch of it was to be in a measure a religious sentiment 
All of beauty, all of solemnity, all of religion, all of penitence, and 
all of faith, were to speak in its walls, its adornment, and its wor- 
ship Consequently, in the construction of All Souls' Church, he 
bewildered the architects and astonished the town. Peculiar in its 
construction, it is equally novel in its interior arrangement, but as a 
whole, is most imposing, tasteful, and beautiful. 

The congregation is numerous and wealthy. They are exceed- 
ingly proud of their minister, and largely encourage him in his good 
works. 

Dr. Bellows is not a showy man in the pulpit, either in person 
or manners. His appearance is utterly without pretension, and al- 
most humble, while his manners are plain and careless as to all 
effect His head is of the intellectual kind, his face gentle in every 
lineament, and you award him instantly the merit of learning, amia- 
bility, and goodness. He is a very effective thinker, and as much 
an effective speaker. His thought is original, his reasoning is pro- 
found, and both are enforced by great earnestness of feeling and 
tone of speech. Religion, humanity, gcodness, beauty, art, and 
genius are the subjects of his enthusiasm, and in all his discourses, 
in the pulpit and elsewhere, they leave their line of light His most 

45 



REV. HENRY W. BELLOWS, D. D. 

eloquent passages are when he rises in amplification or climax. 
" We want only faith in the constitution as it is," he said, in a pow- 
erful sermon — " faith in the rights of political majorities to exercise 
their legitimate powers— faith in the original wisdom of the fathers 
— faith in humanity — faith in Christ and in God, to carry us tri- 
umphantly through this glorious but awful hour when the grandest 
political structure, the providence of God ever allowed to be erected 
is to be finally tested by earthquake, and to prove, I doubt not, that 
it rests on the Kock of Ages, and will endure while time shall last" 
His voice, especially at such times, is as clear and sweet as a flute ; 
his intensified words fall upon the feelings like sparks upon tinder, 
and he carries the hearer absorbed and lost in his eloquence, while 
in himself every thought awakens an emotion, and every utterance 
has been sealed by conviction. He is a fair, honest speaker, with 
nature, devotion, and kindness glowing in all he says. He is em- 
phatically one to trust — like Affection as she entwines with her 
tender arms, and like Mercy, whose voice is the truest melody of 
love. 

But perhaps Dr. Bellows is the most interesting in his social 
intercourse. Any one can approach him, and few there are who do 
not love an hour with him — he is so genial, so friendly, and so enter- 
taining. Are you sad, he is saddened also ; are you gay, he laughs 
with you ; is your conversation of religion, of books, of music, of 
works of art, or on the topics of the day, he is ready to discuss them 
all. And, then, he has such a store of information from his reading, 
such a critical taste, such new ideas, such just and liberal views, 
that he not only instructs but captivates. In truth, he is not one 
of your gloomy, sour, cynical clergymen, but finds a silver lining in 
every cloud, and seeks to plant flowers where so many others would 
sow thorns. He would have this a happy world ; he would enjoy 
to the fullest its rich blessings, and he would bring the mind of man 
in contact with everything beautiful on earth, to prepare it the better 
for heaven. A hater of bigotry, a denouncer of Phariseeism, he is 
the upholder of purity and the illustration of humility. Bold in 
the advocacy of truth, unsparing in his rebuke of evil, he is modest 
of his triumphs and thoughtful of his own actions. In the com- 
munity, in the church, and in the social world, he stands a firm, 
symmetrical pillar as a guide and a beacon. The pillar will crumble 
to decay, but the virtues of the man are enduring. 



REV. NICHOLAS BJERRING, 

PRIEST OE THE GREEK CHAPEL, NEW YORK. 




JEY. NICHOLAS B JERKING was bora in 1831. He is 

priest of the Greek chapel in New York. There are 
other chapels in New Orleans, San Francisco, and Alaska. 
At present the place used is a portion of the private resi- 
dence of Mr. Bj erring ; but lots have been purchased on 
Lexington avenue, near Fifty-second street, where a church in 
the Byzantine style will eventually be erected. The chapel is very 
beautifully fitted and decorated. It is attended by the Russians and 
Greeks of the city, and many persons of all denominations, drawn by 
curiosity. Mr. Bjerring has translated the service into English, and 
it is sometimes given in that language. The estimated number of 
members, including Greeks and Russians, is less than one hundred. 
The Russian minister, and the members of the embassy resident in 
Washington, attend these services at intervals, and the Grand Duke 
Alexis, while in New York, also attended service in the chapel. 
Mr. Bjerring is the author of a translation of a work entitled " The 
Russian Orthodox Church, a Treatise of her Origin and Life," by 
the Arch priest Basaroff. 

An Orthodox Greek church is generally built in the form of a 
cross. The position of the edifice is from west to east. The inner 
space of the church is divided into three principal parts. In the east 
is the altar ; entrance to it is not generally accorded to persons not 
set apart to service in the church. The second principal division is 
the church proper, in which the faithful meet for worship. The third 
division consists of an ante-chamber and a porch, which latter is 
sometimes called the outer, as the former is designated the inner, 
ante-chamber. The inner ante-chamber was once set apart for the 
catechumens and certain penitents. It is sometimes called the trapeza 
(table or dining hall), because here, in the primitive age of the Church, 
the love-feast, or agapce, was held — that is, a meal consisting of the 
gifts brought by the faithful. In the outer hall formerly stood the 
penitents of the lowest grade, or those usually called Flenks 

47 



REV. NICHOLAS BJEEEIN6. 

As in the temple of the Old Testament there were in the holy 
of holies, with the ark, also the golden keys, the manna,, the rod 
of Aaron, and the table of the law, so there are in the Orthodox 
Eastern Church also the tabernacle, that is, a vessel wherein are 
placed the holy gifts for the sick, a cross, as the sign of the eternal 
Priest of our redemption, and a book of Gospels, as the depository 
of His holy law, all of which are placed on the holy table. Behind 
the holy table, toward the east, is erected the throne for the bishop, 
on both sides of which are side thrones for the clerics serving with 
the bishop. By this is signified the heavenly seat of Jesus Christ 
and His sovereignty in the Church, and, at the same time, also the 
participation therein of His holy apostles and their successors. At 
the north side of the altar is placed the credence table, for the due 
preparation on it of the holy gifts for the celebration of the Liturgy. 
The altar is separated from the church proper by a wooden partition, 
on which are depicted the forms of saints. Through this partition 
there are three doors leading from the sanctuary to the altar. 
On the altar side the holy doors are provided with a movable 
curtain. Through the holy doors only a bishop, priest, or dea- 
con may enter the holy altar. The holy doors are ever orna- 
mented with the picture of the annunciation, signifying that 
through the incarnation of God, the Word, heaven was first opened 
for the redemption of man ; and also with the picture of the 
four evangelists, because they, like Gabriel, the Archangel, were 
instrumental in announcing to the world the heavenly message of 
salvation. 

Mr. Bjerring is a gentleman in the prime of life, talented, and 
energetic. He is tall and gracefully proportioned His complexion 
is light, with fair hair and large blue eyes. His manners are ex- 
tremely courteous, and he has a fluent earnestness in conversation. 
The favor with which he is regarded by the high dignitaries of the 
Greek church in Bussia, and also by the Holy Synod, is shown by his 
responsible position in this country. Since his residence in New 
York his intercourse with the clergy of other denominations, and 
with the most influential of the people, has been of a character to 
secure the esteem of all. At the altar he is impressive in the highest 
degree ; and away from it all his functions as a priest and gentleman 
are discharged in a manner most conducive to the honor of his 
church, government, and of himself 

48 



REV. WILLIAM H. BOOLE, 

PASTOR OF THE I-IEDIMNG METHODIST 
CHURCH, ZVEW YORK. 




)EV. WILLIAM H. BOOLE was bora at Shelburne, Nova 
Scotia, April 24th, 1827. "When ten years of age his father 
came to the city of New York, which became the home of 
the family, and was the birth-place of other children. Mr. 
Boole's early education was obtained in the public and private 
schools, and at the age of fifteen he commenced the study of law 
in the office of Henry L. Clark. After about two years he was taken 
away by his brother-in-law, the celebrated shipbuilder, McKay, and 
with him learned ship-draughting and building. He entered the 
Methodist ministry in the New York East Conference, in May, 1854. 
He was first stationed at Clinton, Connecticut, in the same year; and 
subsequently at New Britain and Sable. At the organization of 
the Sickles Excelsior Brigade, Mr. Boole joined the Fifth Regiment 
as chaplain, and was in the field for nearly a year, resigning by reason 
of a compound fracture of the left wrist, which is not yet restored, 
causing annoyance in preaching. A young son of Mr. Boole's enlisted 
as a drummer in Duryea's Zouaves, and died of congestion of the 
lungs in one of the military hospitals. 

He was chairman of the Committee on the State of the Country 
of the New York East Conference in 1865, and one of a committee 
sent with congratulatory resolutions to President Lincoln, on the sur- 
render of Lee's army. 

Mr. Boole has been pastor of various Methodist churches of New 
York and Brooklyn. He is now serving an appointment to the 
church in East Seventeenth Street, New York. He enjoys much 
celebrity as an eloquent an 1 popular speaker. During the presiden- 
tial campaign of 1868, Mr. Boole was on the platform night and 
day, in different States, speaking for the Bepublican party. 

In 1861 Mr. Boole delivered a sermon entitled "Antidote to Rev. 
H J. Van Dyke's Pro-Slavery Discourse," which attracted wide at- 

49 



'• KEV. WILLIAM H. BOOLE. 

tention. It was afterward delivered in the form of a lecture, and 
published in a pamphlet 

In 1870 he delivered a powerful speech at Cooper Institute, New 
York, on the subject, "Shall Our Common School System be Main- 
tained as it is?" which was subsequently published in pamphlet 
form. A discourse on "The Bible in the Schools and State,'' was 
published, and passed through several editions. 

In June, 1871, Mr. Boole and other Methodist clergymen of " The 
National Association for the Promotion of Holiness," visited Salt 
Lake City and the Pacific Coast, taking an immense tent, in which 
to hold religious services. At Salt Lake the coming of the members 
of the Association was looked for with great interest for several 
months, by both the Mormon and Gentile portions of the community. 
Brigham Young manifested his interest by pointed allusions in his 
public addresses in the Tabernacle and- at Ogden. The meetings 
were opened on Sunday, June 11th, in the tent, and were continued 
until the following Sunday. On Friday evening Mr. Boole preached 
a sermon of remarkable eloquence, on the Christian Priesthood aud 
the Plurality of Wives, viewing these subjects from the New Testa- 
ment standpoint Brigham Young, Orson Pratt, Smith, Cannon, and 
several more of the " Twelve Apostles " were present, and sat directly 
in front of the speaker. The audience numbered not less than three 
thousand, of whom the majority were Mormons. 

Mr. Boole has stated to us, in regard to this great sermon, that 
when he rose to speak he had very little collected idea of the lan- 
guage he should use, but he felt thoroughly under an inspiration 
from God to do battle for Truth and Virtue with all his mortal 
power. As the sermon proceeded, the proofs and logic of the New 
Testament, as against the pretensions of the Latter Day Saints, so 
moved the Mormons that they indulged in frequent interruptions, 
while its grand and swelling eloquence thrilled both friends and foes. 
Says an account : — 

"As the preacher closed his remarks and sat down, several Mor- 
mons leaped upon the seats and began loudly to oppose. At this 
point the murmurs of the different factions added to the storm, which 
soon threatened a serious conflict. Many miners — of whom there 
were a large number present — pressed toward the platform for the 
protection of the ministers, their wives, and friends, while a few drew 
their revolvers. Eev. J. S. Inskip said to the excited throng, ' We 
will not suffer any interruption here, on our own ground. We are 



KEV. WILLIAM H. BOOLE. 

American citizens, and under the protection of the United States 
Government, At this a loud shout arose, 'Hurrah for the United 
States Government ! ' which seemed to awe the Mormon belligerents, 
for they soon ceased their noise, and slowly retired." 

Not only did this learned and fearless sermon make such an 
assault upon Mormon doctrines as had never been so well attempted 
before, but the constitutional right of free speech was triumphantly 
vindicated. Judge James B. McKean, of the United States Court 
of Utah, in a private letter to Mr. Boole, under date of Salt Lake 
City, October 9th, 1871, says: "There are so few men in the world 
that could have done successfully what you undertook here, in 
preaching to Mormons against polygamy and latter-day revelations, 
that I would have, and I think I did, advise against it. But the 
theology, the logic, the rhetoric, the temper, and the tact, which you 
brought to bear, were irresistible. The Mormons for once showed 
that they felt themselves to be unhorsed, and the Gentiles were ex- 
ultant. That sermon will long be remembered here, as something to 
date from. George L. Cannon, himself hardly second in talent to 
any Mormon, is reported to have said, ' That man Boole is the ablest 
preacher that has ever spoken in this city.' Even your enemies are 
constrained to praise you. You need never regret that effort." 

The Bev. T. De Witt Talmage, in an article entitled "The Big 
Tent," says : " "We found the track of the Methodist tent all the way 
across the continent." In the cities of the Pacific coast, and at many 
camp-meetings in the East, Mr. Boole and his ministerial brethren 
preached to vast audiences. 

Mr. Boole is one of the editors of the Advocate of Holiness, a 
monthly magazine published in Boston, under the auspices of the 
National Association. 

A man of practical inclinations in everything, Mr. Boole some 
years since began to interest himself in providing permanent camp 
grounds, with adjoining property, for furnishing Christian families a 
summer resort in the midst of Christian influences. Associated with 
the Bev. W. B. Osborn, he purchased the Ocean Grove property at 
Long Branch, New Jersey, and afterward formed the Ocean Grove 
Camp Meeting Association. The whole estate of three hundred 
acres was deeded to the Association, at the same price for which it 
was first bought. A large number of cottages have been built, and 
lots which sold originally at one hundred dollars have found ready 
purchasers at one thousand dollars. 

51 



REV. WILLIAM H. BOOLE. 

In December, 1871, Mr. Boole purchased property on Hempstead 
Harbor, Long Island, which he called "Sea Cliff Grove," and subse- 
quently conveyed, for the same price he gave for it, to the Sea Cliff 
Grove and Metropolitan Camp Ground Association of New York 
and Brooklyn. This property is twenty-six miles from New York, 
and contains two hundred and fifty acres, with one mile of water 
front. It cost one hundred and ten thousand dollars, and the build- 
ings, roads, and water-works one hundred thousand more. The 
scenery is the most magnificent on Long Island Sound. A building 
for religious services, called the Metropolitan Tabernacle, is one hun- 
dred feet wide and one hundred and fifty feet long. 

We now come, in our enumeration of the special labors of Mr. 
Boole, to his "work of faith," known as the "Home for Women," 
located in a house in Water Street, New York, which was formerly 
kept for a dog-pit and other abominations. In establishing a home 
for the fallen women of Water Street, Mr. Boole sought a location in 
the immediate vicinity of the dance-houses, for his theory was that 
to save these women he must have a place near their haunts of vice, 
where those who were so disposed could be gradually lifted out of 
the slums, and made to work their way into respectable life. 

The Home has now been in successful operation for three years, 
and its records are full of most affecting reformations and conver- 
sions. Some have died in the happiness of repentance and salvation. 
Not only have women left the slums in the vicinity and taken refuge 
here, but they have come from dens of infamy elsewhere in the city. 

With an annual expenditure of over three thousand three hun- 
dred dollars, yet the sole dependence of the institution is the unso- 
licited offerings which are given to it No one is asked to give any- 
thing, but those connected with it pray without ceasiDg for its care 
by the Heavenly Father. They have accepted the promise of Jesus, 
" If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it," and they rely 
on it for every dollar and every mouthful of food. Professor Tyndall, 
of England, has asked for some proof of the efficacy of prayer ; and 
here it is in one among the many instances from Mr. Boole's 
diary : — 

" February 15, 1872. — This morning I rode down to the Home. 
There was not quite one dollar in hand, and I knew the matron 
must be needing money. On entering and accosting one of the ma- 
trons, I learned that breakfast had consumed all their store, and there 
remained neither food nor money to supply dinner. Going into the 

52 



EEV. WILLIAM H. BOOLE. 

sewing-room, where the inmates were at work, and making some 
allusion to the fact of there being nothing for dinner, several of the 
girls spoke out, ' It is all right, sir ; we are happy ! " I said, ' Can 
you trust the Lord for your dinner? ' ' yes, sir ! ' they all cheer- 
fully replied. . . . While we were yet talking, a dear brother, 
a minister, came in, having arrived from his home in the country; 
and, after a moment's salutation, he said, ' I am sent from a few la- 
dies of my church with some money for your Home,' and handed 
me twenty-seven dollars. Thus did the Lord show his faithfulness, 
in the presence of the people. This was a sweet lesson of faith to 
us all." 

Mr. Boole is anxious to extend his work by obtaining a country 
home, to which women can be sent for the purpose of continuing the 
reformation begun in the parent institution. In all these labors he 
is acting with a practical aim which is certain to secure success. 

Mr. Boole is of the medium height, and has an erect carriage. 
His features are regular, and the whole countenance is striking in its 
manly and intellectual lineaments. The face is long, having a high 
brow, and the eyes are large and expressive. His hair is straight, 
and, being worn long, and falling behind his ears, presents the brow 
and face in their full prominence. 

In early life Mr. Boole formed the habit of self-reliance, and, 
though he has passed through academical and other studies, he is a 
self-taught man. He has studied some of the languages, mostly the 
Hebrew. His mode of preparation for the pulpit is careful and la- 
borious. Not satisfied with a thorough study of his subject, he 
writes out his sermons in extenso, and, dispensing with all manuscript 
except very brief notes, his delivery has all the ease and freedom of 
extemporaneous speaking. While there is an impulsiveness and 
spiritedness in his utterances, they have the thoughtfulness and finish 
of written sentences. His natural powers of oratory fit him for an 
elegant and effective speaker, but they have all been trained and 
developed at the same time that he has cultivated his other talents. 

Mr. Boole is a fine type of intellectual manhood, and of the earn- 
est, fearless sect to which he belongs. Ambitious to excel and dis- 
tinguish himself in the field of mental culture, he is not less an en- 
thusiast for his faith, bringing all his ability and influence to its 
service. Talented, devout, and seeking to make his life an example 
of virtue, Christian fidelity, and labor, he is certainly pursuing a 
road leading to living honors and celestial peace. 

53 



REV. ROBERT R. BOOTH, D. D., 

PASTOR CKF 1 THE UKIVER8ITY PLACE PRES- 
BYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW YORK: 




IEV. DR. ROBERT R, BOOTH was born in the city of 
New York, May 30th, 1830. He took a course of two 
years at the New York University, then going to Williams 
College, where he was graduated in 1849. His preparation 
for the ministry was at Auburn Theological Seminary, from 
which institution he graduated in 1852. He now spent a year 
in agreeable and profitable travel in Europe and the East. Upon his 
return to his native land he accepted a call as assistant of the vener- 
able Rev. Dr. Beman, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of 
Troy, and was ordained in October of the same year. After a service 
of three years and a half he became pastor of the First Presbyterian 
Church, at Stamford, Conn., where he remained for four years. On 
the 4th of March, 1861, he was installed as pastor of the Mercer 
street Presbyterian Church in New York. 

This congregation was in former days one of the most influential 
and wealthy bodies of Presbyterian believers in the city, having been 
organized about the year 1836. A church edifice was erected on 
ground leased of the Sailors' Snug Harbor, at a cost of some fifty 
thousand dollars. From various reasons, the chief of which was the 
up-town migration of the people, the congregation after many years 
declined in numbers, and at the time of Dr. Booth's coming not more 
than forty pews were rented. At that period there were only about 
two hundred members; whereas in 1866 there were about four 
hundred and fifty, and about two hundred families. A large number 
of Sunday school children were taught under the auspices of the 
church, including the regular school and school connected with the 
Half Orphan Asylum, and two mission schools on the east side of 
the city. 

In 1870 the church ediSce was sold to the Church of the Strangers, 
Rev. Dr. Charles F. Deems, for fifty thousand dollars. A union of 

54 



REV. ROBERT R. BOOTH, D. D. 

the Mercer street congregation with the University Place Presbyterian 
church having been effected, Dr. Booth was called as pastor of the 
new organization, and entered upon his duties in September, 1870. 
The University Place Church was originally a colony from the First 
Presbyterian Church, then in Wall street, and the Brick Church, 
then in Beekman street. Ground was purchased in Cedar street, and 
a church erected in 1807. The fine stone edifice on University 
Place, now occupied by the union congregation, was built by the 
subscriptions of a few persons during the pastorship of the eminent 
Rev. Dr. George Potts, who remained pastor until his death, about 
1864. The continued removal of families up-town rendered it a 
wise policy for these two old congregations to unite, and thereby 
maintain an efficient strength. 

Dr. Booth received his degree of D. D. from the New York 
University, in 1864. He has published various sermons and ad- 
dresses, which have attracted a wide attention. 

Dr. Booth is of the average height, well-proportioned, and active. 
His head is round, with regular, expressive features. His complexion 
is pale, and the predominant characteristics of his face are intel- 
lectuality and amiability. He has easy, friendly manners, and such 
happy powers of conversation that altogether he is a most fascinating 
companion. There is a great deal of what is called man about him. 
An intelligent gentleman, a pure-minded and upright man, a diligent 
student in the paths of the sacred writers and of classical and polite 
literature, he has all the convictions, culture, and taste which elevate 
the individual to its nearest approximation to true manhood ; but 
above and beyond all these he has a nature which in itself forms the 
foundation of a noble character, and to which the others are but the 
superstructure. In not only the thought but the practice of the 
nobler maxims of life ; in a bold and manly conscientiousness and 
responsibility as to all personal conduct ; in a stern and inflexible 
devotion to duty and to- principle, and yet a charitable and gentle 
mode of dealing with all the short-coming3 of other people — such has 
been the course which, as youth and man, this gentleman has made 
the rule of his existence. 

Dr. Booth's sermons are finished specimens of English compo- 
sition. The diction is flowing and eloquent, and at the same time it 
is sufficiently concise and logical. Most of the delivery is in a calm, 
deliberate style, with occasional passages of animation. Of one matter 
the hearer is instantly assured : these sermons are thoughtful and 

55 



REV. ROBERT R. BOOTH, D. D. 

scholarly productions. Thoughtful as to both the matter they con- 
tain and the object in view in presenting it to the public ; and scholar- 
ly as to both the language and the labored research which will best 
arrest attention and produce conviction. They are not dashed off 
with an effort for rhetorical effect, nor are they delivered with a hope 
of producing oratorical sensations ; but they are sober and studied 
religious disquisitions, written in the most practical and earnest style 
of Christian scholarship, and pronounced for the salvation of souls. 

Dr. Booth for one of his years has made a goodly advance on the 
road of fame. In his own and other denominations, among learned 
men as well as the public at large, he has a high reputation as a man 
of extensive learning, eminent piety, and great usefulness. How great 
the work before him may be cannot, of course, now be decided; but 
one thing is certain, that it can in no measure outstrip his willing 
energies, or his ambition to excel in devotion to duty. 



REV. WILLIAM IVES BUDINGTON, D. D., 

PASTOR OE THE CLEVTO\ A. VENUE CONGRE- 
GATIONAL CHURCH, BROOKLYN. 




,EV. DR. IYES BUDINGTON" was born at New Haven. 
April 21st, 1815. He was graduated at Yale College in 
1834, and, after the study of theology for three years in 
New Haven, concluded his course at Andover in 1839. 
He was ordained April 22d, 1840, at Charlestown, Mass., 
the same time being installed as pastor of the First Con- 
gregational Church of that place. Here he remained until Septem- 
ber, 1854, when he went to Philadelphia, and for a limited period 
officiated at the Western Presbyterian Church. He was next called 
to the Clinton Avenue Congregational Church, Brooklyn, and entered 
upon his duties April 22d, 1855. This organization has existed 
for some twenty-six years, and until 1855 met on the corner of Clinton 
and Gates avenues. A new edifice was completed on the corner 
of Clinton and Lafayette avenues in 1855, and a chapel, fronting 
on Lafayette avenue, was finished in 1859 ; tne whole* property 
costing $90,000. During 1864 the sum of $25,000 was subscribed 
to pay the entire debt of the church. Beside this, the pews were 
donated back to the church by their owners, making a gift of an 
additional $25,000. There are four hundred members and about 
two hundred families attending the church. Dr. Budington's pub- 
lished writings consist of a history of the First Congregational 
Church of Charlestown, and various occasional sermons and ad- 
dresses. He received his degree of D. D. from Amherst College in 
1856. 

A Congregational Council, assembled in Brooklyn, March 24th, 
1874, at the invitation of the Clinton avenue and Pilgrim Congre- 
gational churches, to take into consideration a question of discipline 
regarding Plymouth, church (Rev. Mr. Beecher), on which there was 
a difference of views on the part of the two pastors and congrega- 

57 



REV. WILLIAM IVES BUDINGTON, D. D. 

tions on the one side, and the one pastor and congregation on the 
other. The decision was regarded as favorable to those asking the 
Council, though there was no censure of Mr. Beecher. 

Dr. Budington is rather above the medium height, equally pro- 
portioned, and erect He has a well-formed head, of marked in- 
tellectual development His complexion and hair are fair, and his 
expression is that of a repose amounting almost to severity. His 
frigidity and harshness of countenance are more observable in his 
public exercises than in social intercourse. To see him in the pulpit, 
clad in the single-breasted clerical coat, pale, stern, rigid, and deeply 
reflective, he has all the appearance of a modern model of the 
Puritan ecclesiastical autocrats of the early times. Every word is 
measured, every thought is logical, and every sentiment is conviction. 
The man swimming for his life might as well expect an outstretched 
hand to come from some silent, frowning, perpendicular wall of rocks, 
as for the wicked to find the light of mercy in that face so severe, 
emotionless, and changeless. His face at these times draws no heart 
toward him, however, much his words may do so. In private life he 
is a totally different being. His countenance beams with instant ani- 
mation ; he is cordial, unrestrained, and talkative. The gloomy, icy 
Puritan seems, after all, to have been the mere outer shell of most 
cheerful, genial qualities within. There is no abatement of his fixed- 
ness of opinion and earnestness of reasoning, while there is a bursting 
forth of the warmer and gentler impulses of the heart 

Dr. Budington is in all respects an able man. He is a labo- 
rious, painstaking student, and a close, logical thinker. His sermons 
show great originality, as well as gracefulness of diction. He elabor- 
ates, refines, and analyzes until he presents the truth with a power 
well calculated to be irresistible to the intelligence. Arguments of 
the nature that he indulges in, coming from others, would in many 
cases be considered dry and uninteresting; but with him they are far 
from being so. In the first place, his delivery is excellent, both as 
regards voice and manner ; and in the second, his arguments are so 
clear, so pleasantly illustrated by similes, and withal so masterly in 
logic, that they hold the hearer quite as spell-bound as the more 
brilliant and moving appeals of eloquence. His eyes have a pene- 
trating gaze ; his mouth assumes an expression of decision, and stern- 
ness settles an unmovable cloud upon his features. You see that he is 
in earnest in his work, that all the gifts of his intellect are brought 
into use, and an occasional tremulousness of voice gives additional 

58 



EEV. WILLIAM IVES B UD INGTON, D. D. 

testimony as to the strength of his personal feelings. As we have 
said, there is now nothing in his face that appeals to you. He looks 
you through and through, with a glance as keen as a needle, and the 
heart feels a chill from the icy countenance. But all this time he is 
bombarding the mind with agreeably stated logic, and gradually, and 
then more powerfully, he brings the awakened convictions and con- 
science to influence, and inspire the heart. His triumph is complete. 
He has first repelled and then enchained — first frozen the heart, and 
then melted both mind and emotions. 

Dr. Budington's brethren of the ministry speak of him as a truly 
good man. They instance his labors in his present congregation, 
where at times there has been much dissension, growing out of per- 
sonal bickerings, unwise plans, blunders, and a load of debt. In the 
midst of all this, no circumstance has ever changed the serene temper, 
the moral fortitude, and the Christian gentleness of the pastor. And 
now when the dark day is over, and the period of trial gone by, the 
exaltation of character then displayed has endeared him even to 
those whose purposes he opposed. Mainly through his instrumen- 
tality, his people are to-day united and powerful, devoted to their 
spiritual teacher, and he to them, w'th their heavy indebtedness dis- 
charged, and their future undimmed by a single cloud. 

Ripe in scholarship, practicing all the graces of the gentleman, 
and the acknowledged and admired Christian, Dr. Budington is alike 
conspicuous in public life and valued in the private circle. His 
praises are spoken in the language of popular applause, and in the 
utterances of breasts guided by his rare example. 

59 



REV. SAMUEL D. BURCHARD, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE THIRTEENTH STREET PRE9- 
BYTERIAN CHURCH:, NEW YORK. 




)EV. DR SAMUEL D. BURCHAED was bom in the 
town of Steuben. Oneida county, New York, September 
6th, 1812, on the farm where Baron Steuben lived and 
died, it being a portion of the township awarded that 
inguished revolutionary officer for his public services. The 
«&3 farm of six hundred acres became the property of the father of 
Dr. Burchard. and here his youth was passed amid the patriotic in- 
fluences of the home and grave of the departed hero and soldier. 
The county was settled to a large extent by the Welch, which 
language Dr. Burchard once spoke with freedom. When about seven- 
teen years of age he went to Hamilton. Madison county, with the in- 
tention of entering a Baptist theological institution, and preparing 
for that ministry. A conversation with his brother, on the subject 
of " close communion," induced him, at the last moment, to decide 
against any connection with the Baptists. In the autumn of the same 
year he was at home, suffering greatly from asthma, when the follow- 
ing incident occurred. Passing along the road one day, he encount- 
ered a wagoner, who noticed his distress, and said to him : 

"Why, lad, you've got the heaves badly." 

"Something like it," replied the youth. 

"Well, get up here,'' remarked the other. 

The youth mounted the wagon, when the wagoner further re- 
marked : 

" When a horse has the heaves we send him west of the Alle- 
ghanies. Now, if a horse can be cured, why can't you ? '' 

The result was that these somewhat original but practical sug- 
gestions were acted upon, and in two weeks' time the youth was on 
his way to Kentucky. Going to Lexington, he made preparations to 
start a school, but, showing himself an effective speaker in addressing 
temperance meetings, he was urged to prepare for the ministry with- 

« 60 



REV. SAMUEL D. BURCHARD, D. D. 

out delay. He soon after entered Centre College at Danville. During 
his collegiate course he was very active in the temperance movement, 
constantly addressing crowded meetings, and acquired great fame as 
a ready debater and eloquent extemporaneous speaker. Providen- 
tially, too, his asthma was permanently cured. On one occasion more 
than three thousand people had assembled to hear him speak on 
temperance, when he found himself suffering with a sudden and 
severe attack of the complaint. He thought himself able, however, 
to make an apology, and rose to do so. The vast assemblage had an 
electrical effect upon him. After a few words he began to feel relief, 
and proceeding, made one of the best speeches of his life, which was 
of three hours' duration. In 1836 he was sent to the east on a mis- 
sion to raise funds for Centre College, and was successfully engaged 
in this work about a year, preaching and making addresses in all the 
principal cities. He held forth frequently at the old Broadway 
Tabernacle, where crowds flocked to hear him. Eeturning to Ken- 
tucky, he was graduated with his class in 1837. He received calls to 
churches in New York, Boston, and Newark, but preferred to con- 
tinue his theological studies at Danville, under Drs. Young and 
Greene. This class was the foundation of the present Presbyterian 
Presbytery in the spring of 1838. Desiring to pursue his studies in 
New York, he consented to take the temporary charge of the Houston 
street Presbyterian Church, commencing his duties in the autumn of 
the same year. In the following spring he accepted a formal call, 
and was ordained and installed. He preached eight years in Houston 
street, during which time eight hundred and forty-four persons were 
added to the church, and two hundred and ninety-three children 
baptized. Many of the congregation desired to plant a church up 
town, and a colony, consisting of one hundred and eighty members, 
with the pastor, was constituted into a new church May 27th, 1846. 
After worshiping in the chapel of the New York University for 
nearly a year, in May, 1847, the basement of a new edifice in Thir- 
teenth street was erected, and in September the main building was 
occupied. The property cost $30,000, and there was an encumbrance 
of about $24,000. On the 8th of January, 1855, the edifice was en- 
tirely consumed by fire. Another building was erected on the same 
site, and dedicated in the following October. The debt had been re- 
duced before the fire to $7000; but it was again increased to nearly 
$22,000, which was gradually reduced, and in May, 1864, entirely 
removed. Up to the year 1815 there had been added to the church 

61 



REV. SAMUEL D. BURCHARD, D. D. 

one thousand four hundred and fifty-six persons, five hundred being 
on profession of their faith ; eight hundred and sixty -six had been 
dismissed or died, and the number at that time was seven hundred and 
seventy. Three hundred and eighty -nine children had been bap- 
tized. The Sabbath attendance was about one thousand persons. The 
total number added to the church under Dr. Burchard's ministry of 
twenty-five years was two thousand two hundred and ninety. His 
pastoral calls had averaged about one thousand a year, making au 
aggregate of twenty -five thousand calls, and he had attended not far 
from two thousand five hundred funerals. 

During 1853, Dr. Burchard was prostrated by the formation of an 
internal abscess, from which his life was despaired of. The most 
eminent surgeons declared that only the most painful and difficult 
operation could possibly save his life, and even then there were a 
thousand to one chances that he would die under the knife. The 
operation was entered upon by Drs. Sayre and Hossack, and a cavity 
made, in the words of Dr. B. to us, "as big as a child's head" After 
extraordinary endurance, at length his pulse seemingly ceased to 
beat, and the surgeons pronounced the patient, dead. His wife, how- 
ever, who remained in the room during nearly the whole operation, 
insisted that he was not dead, and vigorous means were taken for his 
resuscitation. For a long time no signs of life appeared, and the 
surgeons again and again reiterated their opinion that it was totally 
extinct. The efforts continued, and Mrs. Burchard claimed that she 
detected a slight glow in the cheeks, but the surgeons were still in- 
credulous. At last the patient gave a gasp, the pulse returned, and, 
to the joy of the devoted wife and the profound astonishment of the 
surgeons, it became evident that he still lived. From day to day, 
when he could endure it, other operations took place, the cutting ex- 
tending at least three inches into the body. The bowels were ex- 
posed, and the bladder was actually displaced and replaced. In his 
recovery, nothing was more wonderful than the manner in which 
the parts were healed, and the manner in which nature supplied 
the absence of bones and muscles that had been removed. Dr. 
Burchard was restored to his pastoral duties in about six months. 
The case attracted great attention from the medical profession both 
in the United States and abroad. Visiting Europe in 1855, he was 
invited to the leading medical colleges, where his person was ex- 
amined, and he was listened to with little less than wonder. He 

62 



REV. SAMUEL D. BURCHAKD, D. D. 

gave a public lecture on his case at one of the institutions, and sc 
thrillingly interesting was it that one of the faculty fainted. 

Dr. Burcharcl published, in 1840, a volume, entitled " The Laurel 
Wreath ;" and in 1853 a handsome volume, with steel engravings, 
entitled " The Daughters of Zion," which was republished in Eng- 
land. He has also issued various sermons and addresses, and written 
largely for the magazines. His degree of D. D. was conferred by 
Madison University, in 1852. He is the chancellor of Ingham Uni 
versity, at Leroy, New York, an institution for females, and is con- 
nected with many charitable and religious institutions and societies 
of New York city. 

Dr. Burchard is of tall person, erect, and well-formed. He has 
a round head, not large, but well developed, with regular and intelli- 
gent features. He is of fair hair and complexion, and exceedingly 
bald. His countenance shows a great deal of honest, independent 
character, and an unfailing store of amiability and cheerfulness. He 
is genial and communicative, and readily obtains the esteem and love 
of those with whom he comes in contact. His learning is varied, 
embracing many subjects quite foreign to his profession, and he is 
most happy in his mode of making it a source of pleasure and benefit 
to others. It is apparent that he is a man of much shrewd penetra- 
tion as to character, and that his own is bold and manly, while 
thoroughly and enthusiastically religious. He has a nervous im- 
pulsiveness of manner, but his judgment is collected and his reso- 
lution heroic. As instances of the latter, it may be mentioned that 
during the cholera pestilence of 1832 he remained at Danvdle, nurs- 
ing the sick and shrouding the dead, when almost all who could 
do so fled ; and under the severe medical operations which he has 
submitted to he was never bound or stupified in any degree. 

He is a fascinating, extemporaneous speaker. There is a gush 
of language from his lips as unrestrained as water from a fountain, 
and it sparkles with all the glow of impassioned eloquence. His 
sermons are written with the same smoothness and beauty, while 
they do not lack in argumentative power. He always speaks with 
feeling and great devoutness, using a few impressive gestures. His 
ministry in New York now stretches over a period of thirty-four 
years. It is a ministry brilliant with triumphs. It is years of talents 
well applied, and Gods work well done. 

63 



MY. STEPHEN H. CAMP,' 



PASTOR OF UNITY UNITAKIAN CHAPEL, 

BROOKLY IV. 




EV. STEPHEN H. CAMP was born at Windsor, Con- 
necticut, May 29th, 1837. In boyhood he resolved to 
dedicate his life to the Christian ministiy. At the age 
of fourteen his father removed the family to the western 
part of the State of New York, and sought to make arrange- 
ments for the purchase of a farm ; but in this he failed, and the 
son was obliged to abandon the hope of a liberal education. Greatly 
disappointed, but meekly bowing to his fate, he at once turned his 
attention to learning a mechanical trade. In September, 1852, he en- 
tered a machine shop at Bochester for this purpose ; and in Septem- 
ber, 1868, he went to Milwaukee, and was there engaged as a ma- 
chinist. Here, while patiently laboring at his occupation, he met 
the Eev. Mr. Staples, who became interested in him, and so far pro- 
moted his hopes and plans, that he was enabled to enter the Divinity 
School at Meadville, Penn. Upon the termination of his studies, he 
became the chaplain of a colored regiment then at Port Hudson, 
Louisiana, and on his return from the service, he took charge of the 
Unitarian Church at Toledo, Ohio. It was in a very unfavorable 
condition, but at the end of a year presented a more hopeful aspect 
In March, 1869, he visited Brooklyn, where he preached for two 
weeks, as a supply, to the people of Unity Chapel. He was so much 
admired that a cordial and unanimous call was extended to him, 
which he accepted. 

The founding of Unity Chapel, or the Third Unitarian Congre- 
gational Society of Brooklyn, was chiefly due to the efforts of the 
Bev. Dr. Alfred P. Putnam, pastor of the Church of the Saviour, 
generously aided by his own congregation. The first services were 
held on Sunday, October 6th, 1867, in a public room on the corner 
of Classon and Fulton avenues, about fifty persons being present at 
each service. On the evening of December 3d. 1867, more than 

64 



REV. STEPHEN H. CAMP. 

thirty persons assembled and organized as a religious society. The 
expense of the enterprise during the three months preceding January 
1st, 1868, were entirely defrayed by Dr. Putnam's church. In Feb- 
ruary, 1868, in consequence of Dr. Putnam's continued appeals, a sub- 
scription was raised for the erection of a chapel. Ten thousand dol- 
lars were thus obtained, to which the American Unitarian Associa- 
tion added a further five thousand. In April, 1868, seven lots of 
ground were purchased on Classon avenue and Lefferts street, for the 
present chapel and a future church. The corner-stone of the chapel 
was laid September 4th, 1868, and the dedication of the completed 
edifice occured December 9th, 1868. A powerful and eloquent ser- 
mon was preached by Dr. Putnam, and numerous other prominent 
ministers took part in the impressive services. The cost of the lots, 
building and fixtures, was about twenty-six thousand dollars. From 
the date of its organization, the society gave evidence of constantly 
increasing strength and influence, and under the ministration of Mr. 
Camp, it has been thoroughly united and active in the religious work. 
Mr. Camp is an interesting and impressive preacher. By voice 
and manner, he shows that his personal feelings are fully involved in 
all that he says, and that preaching with him is not intended for the 
display of talents, so much as to awaken his fellow-creatures to a 
consideration of religious and moral concerns. He arrests attention 
and conscience, because his sermons are thoughtful, argumentative 
productions ; and he converts because they are likewise aglow with 
the inspiration of a fixed and ardent faith. Poetry, sentiment, and 
beauty all affect and govern him in his mental action, and his views 
of life ; but the deep and moving source of all his convictions and his 
preaching is religion. Consequently, his daily life is marked by the 
purity and consistency which spring from such a condition of mind 
and heart, while his public career stands not less an example of fidel- 
ity to principle and duty. 

65 



REV. J. HALSTED CARROLL, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE EAST RErORMED CHURCH, 
BROOKLYN. 




EV. DR. J. HALSTED CARROLL was born in the city 
of Brooklyn, May 21st, 1833. His father, the late Rev. 
Dr. Daniel L. Carroll, was one of the early pastors of the 

Illlr^*" 1 First Presbyterian Church, on Brooklyn Heights, and 
throughout a memorable ministry displayed the highest char- 

S5 acteristics of learning, piety, and efficiency. " God is all my 
hope," were his dying words. The son made a profession of religion 
at the age of thirteen years, and entered college before he was four- 
teen. He then graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in Juty, 
1851, and at the Princeton Theological Seminary in May, 1855. At 
the close of his second year of theological study, he was licensed by 
the Presbytery of Philadelphia to preach the gospel, and on the 30th 
of May, 1855 (the year he left the seminary), he was ordained and 
installed by the Presbytery of New Brunswick as pastor of the Pres- 
byterian Church in Jamesburg, New Jersey. In the following year 
his ministry was marked by a powerful revival, which affected not 
only his own congregation, but also the neighboring congregation of 
Manalapan, where he labored a part of the time. Impaired health 
obliged this faithful pastor to resign in 1858, when the following re- 
solution was unanimously adopted by the church : 

"Resolved, That we do hereby publicly testify our gratitude to 
Cod, that during Mr. Carroll's ministry here, his labors have been 
signally blest by the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit, and that from a 
small beginning we have been raised up to be a growing and pros- 
perous church." 

He had been attacked with hemorrhage of the lungs, and now 
proceeded to Aiken, South Carolina, a noted resort for invalids. As 
his health improved, he occasionally preached, and with so much 
acceptance that he was invited to remain in the place as a permanent 
pastor. With this view, a Presbyterian church was organized there 

66 





yja^rT^cl 




REV. J. HALSTED CARROLL, D. D. 

on the 28th and 29th of August, 1858, and not long after a con- 
venient house of worship was erected. Here Dr. Carroll labored with 
great usefulness and success for nearly two years. He then resigned 
for the purpose of going to Europe, hoping to gain more perfect 
health. Under date of May 4th, 1860, a preamble and resolutions were 
adopted by the church, from which we make the following extract : 

" Resolved, That this church and congregation entertain a very 
grateful sense of the valuable services rendered by Mr. CarroU in the 
founding and organizing of the church; of his zealous devotion to the 
promotion of the enterprise, and his successful efforts in raising the 
means for the construction of the house of worship, and that we shall 
ever affectionately cherish the recollection of his sympathizing at- 
tentions to the members of his flock in their mingled experience of 
joys and sorrows during the period of his pastorship." 

Dr. Carroll left the United States in the early part of I860, and 
was absent about a year. He traveled extensively in Europe, made 
the acquaintance of many celebrated men, listened to the preaching 
of the principal pulpit orators of Europe, and finally returned home 
with improved health. For several months he preached only occa- 
sionally, until he was called to the South Congregational Church of 
New Haven, Conn. He accepted the call January 17th, 1862. but by 
icason of severe indisposition, he did not commence his duties until 
the first Sabbath in June, 1862. At first he recalled his acceptance, 
but the congregation was so desirous to secure him that the time for 
his coming was voluntarily extended six months. His sermons 
preached as a candidate here made a deep impression, and his first 
sermon as the pastor, was one of the ablest ever preached in New 
Haven. The congregation steadily increased, and became, on Sab- 
bath afternoons at least, larger than those of any other church of 
the same denomination in the city. 

The late Grerard Halleck, well known as the editor of the New 
York Journal of Commerce, was a member of this congregation, and 
in the course of a "History of the South Church," speaks thus of the 
ministry there of Dr. Carroll : 

" His sermons are full of thought, legitimately derived from his 
texts, though often not lying on the surface, yet when suggested, so 
obviously comprehended within the scope of the passage, that the 
hearer wonders he never caught the idea before. There is withal a 
terseness and point in his discourses, and a beauty of language and 
imagery, which renders it impossible to forget them. His descrip- 

67 



REV. J. HALTSED CARROLL, D.D. 

tions of scenes and incidents are exceedingly graphic. His scripture 
characters, as presented in the chapel on Sunday evenings for many 
months in succession, until superseded lately by the Fulton Street 
Prayer Meetings, we have never heard surpassed, so life-like and so 
full of instruction. The attendance upon them was very large. To 
those who never heard Mr. Carroll preach, we may remark that one 
half of the power of his discourses consists in the delivery. Some- 
times they are written out in full, but more generally not, and in 
either case he is entirely independent of his manuscript, seldom ever 
looking at it, but holding constant communication with his hearers, 
not only by his voice, but by his expressive features and appropriate 
action. His enunciation is remarkably distinct, his voice is soft and 
clear, and his command of the audience such that amidst the pro- 
found stillness of the house, he is heard in every portion of it, even 
when speaking not much above the tone of. common conversation. 
% * * There is one peculiarity in his manner which we must not 
omit to mention, viz.: that it contains in about equal proportions, gen- 
tleness and fire, two things theoretically inconsistent with each other, 
but practically exemplified in the South Church every Sabbath. As 
an extempore speaker especially his powers are extraordinary. Take 
him when and where you will, on any subject, in the pulpit or on the 
platform, or in the conference room, he is always ready and alwaj^s 
good, seldom hesitating or recalling a word, but going on .like a quiet, 
steady stream, supplied by never-failing springs, until he has occupied 
the time allotted him, or accomplished the end at which he aimed." 

After a pastorate of six years, Dr. Carroll resigned in New Haven, 
and visited Europe a second time, preaching in the principal cities. 
In Paris he labored very earnestly for the Young Men's Christian 
Association, as well as officiating during the week and on Sabbaths 
in the American, English, and French chapels. On leaving the city 
he was tendered the compliment of a breakfast, the clergy and laity 
present representing the various Protestant denominations, and the 
Christian Association. The American Register, of Paris, thus notices 
the event: 

" Dr. Carroll being on the eve of his departure for Italy, his friends 
met to testify their personal respect for him as a gentleman, and also 
for his good and willing services to each during his short stay in 
Paris. These acknowledgments took a more tangible form than that 
of an excellent breakfast and excellent speeches, — a fine Bible was 
presented to the Rev. Doctor, on the fly leaf of which were written 

68 



REV. J. HALSTE1) CARROLL, D. D. 

the names of the Rev. gentlemen present, and those of representatives 
of the Association, and the following flattering address : ' An offering 
of friendship from the Protestant clergy and the Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association of Paris, expressive of their high appreciation of 
him as a brother dearly beloved for his own and his work's sake.' 
After breakfast the presentation was made, when deserving eulogies 
were passed on the honored guest. The following resolution, beau- 
tifully engrossed, was presented by the committee on behalf of the 
Association as expressive further of their appreciation : ' Resolved, 
While expressing our thanks to all the kind donors who have so 
generously helped us, we feel that special gratitude is due to the 
Rev. Dr. Carroll, of ISTew Haven, IT. S., our efficient temporary Vice- 
president. To his indefatigable and successful labors this Associa- 
tion is largely indebted for the means which have provided and fur- 
nished our new rooms; for the general interest and sympathy awak- 
ened in our behalf; and above all, for his religious instruction and 
influence, which have given such spirited impulse to us as a Christian 
Association. That God may bless and reward him is the prayer of 
those with whom his name will ever be a household word.' " 

In May, 1869, he became pastor of the Lee Avenue Reformed 
Church, Brooklyn. Here signal success crowned his ministry. The 
statistics of the church show, besides a phenomenal growth in the 
congregation, an addition of two hundred and forty-six to the roll of 
membership, and of these, one hundred and sixty-five united on con- 
fession of faith. During the two years of his pastorate, each year 
nearly doubled the accessions of any of the fifteen previous years of 
the church's history. 

In 1871 he accepted a call to his present church, the East Re- 
formed, on Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, then in a very feeble condi- 
tion. The congregation numbered only thirty-seven persons, and the 
Sunday School scarcely existed, save in name. Since the settlement 
of Dr. Carroll, one of the most elegant church edifices in Brooklyn 
has been erected. It will seat comfortably one thousand persons, 
and its spacious lecture rooms, Sunday school and conference rooms, 
its parlors and appliances are all most beautiful and convenient 
The Sunday school, from forty pupils, has gone up to three hundred. 
The church, from thirty-seven members, to three hundred and seven, 
— an increase in one year and a half of three hundred per cent, in 
attendance, and four hundred per cent, in revenue. The parsonage 
which adjoins the church is commodious, containing thirteen rooms, 

69 



REV. J. HALSTED CARROLL, D. D. 

while the illuminated steeple and clock make the church edifice the 
distinguishing attraction of the locality. The whole property cost 
one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The congregation com- 
pletely fills the house, and camp-stools are in requisition every Sun- 
day to accommodate the additional crowd of people. 

Dr. Carroll received his degree of D. D. from Hampden Sidney 
College, in 1868. Occasionally he delivers public addresses out of 
the pulpit, in which it has been truthfully said, " he is at home, 
knowing exactly where and how to strike the popular heart." At 
an Irish Eelief meeting in New Haven, for an hour or more he elec- 
trified an immense audience, who responded with cheer upon cheer. 
The Philadelphia Press speaks in these terms of an oration delivered 
by Dr. Carroll at the anniversary of the Athenaeum Literary Society 
of Delaware College, on the subject of " Men and Things Abroad." 
" The oration was masterly throughout, exhibiting great artistic ex- 
cellence and rare specimens of varied and genuine eloquence — elo- 
quence of the intellect, imagination, and the emotions. Judging 
from the effect last evening, we would say that Dr. Carroll has few 
superiors in this country as an orator. His manner is in the highest 
sense dramatic, and he seems to sway his audience at will. At one 
time, by a dash of wit and humor, convulsing them with laughter; 
at another, by some passage or picture of surpassing pathos, melting 
them to tears." 

Dr. Carroll has a well-proportioned and graceful figure. His head 
is large, with a face of striking intellectuality. He has warmth 
and sincerity in his manners, at the same time he displays a natural 
courtliness and dignity which are always agreeable to behold in a 
man of the clerical profession. In the pulpit his mastery over the 
mind and heart of the masses is perfect and irresistible ; and in the 
social walks he leads all equally captive to the fascination of his 
personal character. His ministerial work has been successful in the 
extreme. Modestly bearing the fame which it has already brought 
to him, he is with every day's maturing powers giving larger talents 
and a bolder energy to the cause of Christ 

70 



REV. GAWN CAMPBELL, 

LATE PASTOR OF THE FORTY-FOURTH STREET 
UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




EY. GAWN CAMPBELL was born in Down county, 
Ireland, about the year 1824. By reason of the loss of 
certain records he is himself in doubt as to the exact date 
of his birth, but thinks it to have been in the year we 
have named. His early studies were at the common 
school of Barnamaghery, his native township. He then studied 
theology with the Rev. Archibald Lowry, who kept a classical- school 
at Crossgar, in the same county. After this he went to the Belfast 
College, and after three years of study took the general certificate, as 
it is called, which is the same as the diploma of the American col- 
leges. He next entered upon his regular theological course, which 
continued for two years, until 1843. In 1844 he was licensed as a 
Presbyterian minister by the Presbytery of Down county, and 
preached for some time in different parts of Ireland. 

He came to the United States in 1849, and landed at New York. 
He was first settled over the Associate Presbyterian Church at Greens- 
borough, Yermont, where he remained eleven years. In 1861 he was 
called to the congregation of United Presbyterians, over which he 
still presides. 

The United Presbyterian Church of North America is so called 
by reason of a union of the two bodies formerly known as the Asso- 
ciate and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Churches, which was 
consummated at Pittsburgh, May 26th, 1858. There are in the city 
of New York eight churches of this sect. They differ from the 
other branches of the Presbyterian faith in regard to the communion, 
psalmody, and instrumental music in the worship of Cod. On these 
points they hold to close communion, use only the book of Psalms 
contained in the Holy Scriptures, and will not allow the use of mu- 



EEV. GAWIf CAMPBELL. 

sical instruments in their churches, as they were not found in the 
Jewish synagogue or the primitive churches of the New Testament. 

The Forty-fourth Street congregation was originally a mission 
station of Associate Reformed Presbyterians, who commenced wor- 
ship at National Hall, in Forty-fourth street, between Eighth and 
Ninth avenues. The enterprise commenced in April, 1855, and after 
about ten months, early in 1867, was organized as an Associate 
Church, under the pastoral care of the Rev. James B. Whitten. By 
the union at Pittsburgh the congregation became known as the 
United Presbyterian Church. The congregation removed to Eagle 
Hall, in Forty-fourth street, and thence to Morton Hall, in Forty- 
third street. In 1858 a new church edifice, which had been erected 
in Forty-fourth street, between Ninth and Tenth avenues, was oc- 
cupied. Mr. Whitten was succeeded by the present pastor. 

Mr. Campbell is the author of two small works, entitled re- 
spectively " A Catechism on some of the Principles and Practices 
of the United Presbyterian Church,'' and "A Catechism on the 
Sacraments of the United Presbyterian Church." 

He is about of the medium height, active, and erect He has a 
round head, regular features, and a countenance of considerable in- 
telligence and very decided amiability His manners are not only 
courteous, but extremely cordial and frank with all persons. He 
is a plain man, utterly devoid of pretension of any- kind, and has 
all the popular qualities of character common to such persons. His 
religious feelings, and, in fact, all his opinions, are earnestly and 
sincerely expressed, and his conversation on all topics is fluent and 
interesting. 

Mr. Oampbell's style of preaching is devout, and at the same 
time emphatic. He has a fine flow of language and a great deal of 
aptness of expression, and withal an earnestness of manner which 
shows his own deep convictions and ardent desire to make plain the 
truth which he is commissioned to proclaim. You see that he is 
intent upon this one thing, of unfolding religious truth and drawing 
sinners into the fold of his Master. He does not seek to advance 
the preacher into prominence by indulging in peculiarities of thought 
or manners which will attract attention to himself, but he speaks as 
any other man might speak instructed in the Scriptures and ordained 
to preach them. In fact, he hides within himself, he shrinks under 
the responsibility of his position, and stands with fear, and his sole 
reliance on divine power. This is spiritual preaching. It is always 

72 



EEV. GAWN CAMPBELL. 

solemn ; it differs as much, from the showy, sensational sort, as did 
the humble fishermen of Galilee from the preachers of the latter kind 
in this day, bat is efficacious in the saving of souls. 

Mr. Campbell toils early and late in his particular vineyard. He 
is a hard, unwearying worker in all places and under all circum- 
stances. He is looking for neither fame nor emoluments, but he 
is following the Crucified, who has called him to his mission. An 
upright character, a pious life, and a self-sacrificing regard for the 
spiritual and temporal well-being of all his flock, give him a pass- 
port to the confidence and affection of the old and young. His 
ministerial exertions may not succeed in placing him among "the 
few immortal names not born to die," but his career will fill the 
full measure of the requirements of the useful citizen, faithful pastor, 
and devoted friend. 

73 



REV. ABRAM B. CARTER, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLT 
SAVIOUR, (EPISCOPAL,) NEW YORK!. 




EEV. DR. ABRAM B. CARTER was born at Trenton, 
New Jersey, May 8th, 1820. His grandfather was the 
Rev. Dr. Abram Beach, at one time assistant minister of 
Trinity Church, New York, and his father, the Rev. 
Abiel Carter, also a well-known and talented Episcopal clergy- 
man of his day. His early studies were at the Institute at 
Flushing, Long Island, conducted by the Rev. William A. Muhlen- 
berg. He next entered Rutgers College, New Brunswick, where he 
took his degree in course, and then studied theology privately, under 
the direction of the Rev. Drs. Ogilby and Stubbs. He was made 
deacon in the Episcopal ministry in 1845, at Christ Church, New 
Brunswick, by Bishop Doane, and priest in 1846, at Trinity Church, 
Newark, by the same Bishop. He was first settled in 1846 as rector 
of St. John's Church, Troy, New York, where he remained two years. 
After this he went to St. Ann's, Morrisania, where he officiated four 
years, and then went to Christ Church, Savannah, Georgia, where 
his father had been rector before him. Here the climate did not 
agree with him, and he was obliged to terminate his relations with 
the parish in less than a year. He next accepted a call to St John's 
Church, Yonkers, New York, where he remained sixteen years. 
Having received a very pressing call to the Church of the Holy 
Saviour, New York city, he accepted it, and entered upon his duties 
in December, 1868. He received his degree of D. D. from Rutgers 
College in 1856. 

The parish of the Church of the Holy Saviour was founded by 
the late distinguished Rev. Dr. Francis L. Hawks, and was the last 
work of his remarkable and useful life. After leaving Baltimore, he 
took up his residence in New York, and his many friends urged him 
to establish a new parish. He was somewhat loth to do so, as his 
years were beginning to weigh upon him, and more particularly as 

74 



REV. ABEAM B. CARTER, D. D. 

events connected with him, growing out of the war with the South, 
had saddened, disappointed, and almost unfitted him for ministerial 
duties. A man of most varied and commanding abilities, and of 
great force and character, he was a Hercules in any work, but now 
he sought the retirement and associations of his study and private 
life, rather than further efforts in the public arena. He yielded to the 
wishes of his friends, however, and commenced religious services in 
one of the chapels of the University. His congregation grew, and 
at length it was determined to build a church. 

Mr. William Niblo, one of Dr. Hawks' most devoted friends, 
made a donation of some very valuable and eligible lots on Twenty- 
fifth street, between Madison and Fourth avenues, and here the cor- 
ner-stone of a church structure was laid in the early part of 1866. 
The ceremonies were conducted by Dr. Hawks, and were of a 
particularly impressive character. Not long after, he passed away 
from earth, not being permitted to see tbe fair structure rise to com- 
pletion. The church was opened in 1867. It is one of the most 
elaborate and beautiful buildings of the kind in the country, and cost 
over one hundred thousand dollars. The front is of yellow stone, 
ornamented with sculpture and other carvings, and the interior is 
also very rich and tasteful. 

Dr. Carter is rather over the medium height, with a well-propor- 
tioned figure. His head shows intellectual development, and his face 
is full of intelligent and amiable ex2>ression. His manners are not 
only courteous, but unusually warm and kindly with all persons. 
He always meets you with a cheerful smile and a friendly grasp of 
the hand. He is a man who carries sunshine wherever he goes. 
While he has all the proper dignity becoming one of his sacred pro- 
fession, and always maintains its properties to the utmost, still his 
nature is always buoyant with a charming animation, and bis con- 
versation is not less sprightly than profitable. He is genial and 
lovable in his whole character. He is one of those who find a silver 
lining in every cloud, and who detect something good in almost 
every character. He looks on the bright side of life, and searches 
for the good rather than the evil in the human composition. Hence, 
no matter what may be his disappointments a.nd his apprehensions, 
you find him cheerful with hope. In the family circle, in his 
public duties, in all the manifold offices of his ministerial life, he is 
the same man of sunny presence, of inspiring counsel, of noble, 
manly example. Men go to him to laugh, and they also go in 

75 



REV. ABRAM B. CARTER, D. D. 

sorrow, for he has in either case a nature which makes the hour 
beneficial in its teaching. He is a thoughtful man, and he is not a 
person given to levity. But he has this surprising and unusual 
calm, resolute, cheerful disposition, those soft, gentle, winning ways, 
and those pleasant, cheering, comforting tones and words, that alto- 
gether form a character such as is a blessing to himself and to all 
others. 

A teacher of serious things, and a monitor over the actions of his 
fellow-men, still this godly man understands his duties and obliga- 
tions too well to forget that it is gentle counsels and cheering words 
which are, after all, most powerful in their influence upon the human 
heart. He makes principles, conscience, and faith as eternal and 
immovable as the foundation of the throne of Omnipotence itself, 
but he does not allow any of these to darken the heart with religious 
gloom. He shows in himself the Christian man, with a heart light- 
some and joyous, and shows a life bereft of only its sorrows through 
sin. 

The style of preaching adopted by Dr. Carter is a forcible and 
pleasing example of the purpose to make evident the efficiency and 
beauty of God's love. His whole scope of thought seeks this end, 
and his manner enforces it with a tenderness and affectionate interest 
which is irresistible. His voice is soft as it falls upon the ear, and 
his words reach the heart as gently and soothingly as the summer 
rain falls upon the thirsting flowers. It is a good, kind man speak- 
ing the undoubted promises of a loving Father in the skies. 

He is effective in the highest degree, but it is without any special 
effort. He is modest, and totally without display in either matter or 
manner of delivery, but his face beams with goodness, and his lips 
have the impress of truth. None go away dissatisfied from his 
preaching. The old and the young, the pious and the worldly, can 
each and all accept its teachings, for they embrace truths of religion, 
morals, and everyday experience which cannot be disputed, and they 
are offered in a manner to win, and never to offend. 

76 



REY. SAMUEL T. CARTER, 

LATE PASTOR OE THE EIGHTY-SIXTH STREET 
PRE8BYTERIAK CHUKCH, NEW YORK:. 




)EV. SAMUEL T. CARTER was born in tbe City of 
New York, July 22d, 1840. He is the son of Robert 
Carter, tbe noted New York publisher of Presbyterian 
and and other religious publications, who has likewise 
another son in the ministry. He was graduated at the 
New York University in 1858, and at Princeton Theological 
Seminary in 1861. After graduation at the seminary he went to 
Europe, where he passed fifteen months in interesting travel. He 
was licensed by the Presbytery of New York, and ordained and in- 
stalled by the same Presbytery as pastor of the Westminster Presby- 
terian church, Yonkers, New York, in 1862 where he remained five 
years. In October, 1867, he commenced his duties as pastor of 
Eighty-sixth street Presbyterian Church, New York He is now the 
pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Huntington, Long Is- 
land. 

Mr. Carter is above the average height, sparely made, erect, and 
active. His head is not large, and the features are small and deli- 
cately molded. His complexion is light, and his hair red. He has 
an exceedingly agreeable expression of face, and his manners are 
quiet and courteous. "While he is not to be called diffident, he has a 
modesty which is not unbecoming in a young minister. His habits 
are sedate and student like. Still on the threshold of his profes- 
sional life, he has not as yet mingled much in the public duties to 
which the clergy are invited from time to time. He has not em- 
broiled himself in any of the questions of the hour, either of Church 
or State, and he has allowed nothing to disturb the " noiseless tenor " 
of his way in pursuing his still advancing studies, and looking to 
the spiritual condition of the people in his charge. Under these 

77 



REV. SAMUEL T. CARTER. 

circumstances, you find him with a calmness of temper, a simplicity 
of manners, and an earnest devotion which are not usual in the 
clergyman who is heated and eager in the race of professional ambi- 
tion. He is free, unrestrained, and sincere in all his intercourse ; he 
is gentle, kindly, charitable, and full of Christian love in all his acts ; 
his nature has been clouded by no disappointment, and his hopes 
have received no shocks from the world's trials. In young man- 
hood, inexperienced as the world goes, still he has the culture of a 
well-trained student, and the strength of moral and religious princi- 
ples of the pure and brave young heart. 

His sermons are composed with care. And here, too, the same 
caution and circumspection in thought, expression, and style are 
shown that mark his conduct in other respects. He expounds the 
doctrines of his church with intelligence, but he parades no conceited 
opinions of his own ; he discusses the questions of morals, but he 
makes no assaults upon the people, as if he had obtained perfection 
himself. A poor sinner, but one instructed to teach the Scriptures, 
is the character which he bears in the public services. He launches 
no thunderbolts, he assumes no air and tone of authority, but he 
comes in all meekness and tenderness with the comforting words of 
his Master. His voice is soft and plaintive, but has sufficient vol- 
ume to give him full control over the largest audience. 

The highest qualities of greatness are found in this young man. 
The modesty of his character, the propriety of his conduct, the ster- 
ling excellence of his principles, are a basis on which he can build a 
structure of manhood which in time to come may be a bulwark for 
morality and religion, for society and the church. Assumption, ar- 
rogance, and self-sufficiency may do for the hour, but those who are 
looking for an enduring reputation in the ministry, or any other pro- 
fession, must establish it by other and nobler elements of character. 
Mr. Carter is one of the few who are seeking it by the right path, and 
of these he seems the least likely to fail. 

78 



REV. JOHN WHITE CHADWICK. 

pastor of the second xjivita.r,ia.tv church, 

brook: lyn. 



1/ ISI) EV. JOHN WHITE CHADWICK was born at Marble- 
fe"lHS^ bead, Massachusetts, October 19tb, 1840. He pursued 
Cu!§ils& an aca dcniic course at the Bridgewater State Normal 
VIljS"' School, one of the four schools of the kind in Massachu- 

, |l!) setts, at the Phillips Academy, Exeter, and at a later period in 
«^3 private. He entered Harvard Divinity School in 1861, and 
was graduated with his class in 1864. After graduation he was 
called to the Unitarian Society at Haverhill, Massachusetts, but did 
not accept, having already agreed to supply the pulpit of the Second 
Society, Brooklyn, for the term of three months. He commenced 
his duties in Brooklyn September 11th, 1864, and soon after re- 
ceived a call as the regular pastor, which he accepted, and was or- 
dained December 21st, 1864. 

The Second Unitarian Society was organized in South Brooklyn 
about 1853. Bev. Mr. Longfellow, brother of the poet Longfellow, 
was called as the first pastor in the following year, who resigned 
after laboring ten years, by reason of ill-health. He was followed 
by Bev. Mr. Staples, who remained until his death, in February, 
1864, being succeeded by Mr. Chadwick. In 1857 a tasteful chapel 
was erected, on leased ground, on the corner of Clinton and Congress 
streets, at a cost of twenty-nine thousand dollars. The building is in 
the form of a cross, with a low roof, tower, and three entrances, hav- 
ing interior screens of wood work and stained glass. The pulpit is 
a semi-circular recess, having a background of red upholstery. On 
one side of the pulpit, and entered from it, is a small room used by 
the minister ; and on the other side, and also entered from it, is the 
organ and choir gallery, hung with red curtains, and richly painted 
and ornamented. There are places for four singers, whose heads, 
when standing, appear at four square openings, producing the effect 

79 



REV. JOHN" WHITE CHADWICK. 

of as many framed pictures. The exterior and interior, in style, 
painting, and ornamentation, are strikingly 'unique. 

The branch of faith held by the society is of the rationalistic, 
philosophical school. Mr. Longfellow introduced into his church a 
very beautiful vesper service, which, in a somewhat different form, 
is now used in several of the churches of the denomination. 

Mr. Chadwick is under the average height, and of a slight figure. 
His face is pale and youthful. His usual expression is one of seri- 
ousness; the eyes are almost mournful, and his smiles are like quick 
flashes of light fading away into deeper gloom. His nature 
approaches to womanly gentleness, and in all respects is pervaded 
with the most delicate and thorough spiritual sensibility. At an age 
when dignity is commonly the merest affectation, and eccentricity 
unthought of, still there is much of the former in his self-evident 
strength of character, and something of the latter in his half-dreamy 
thougbtfulness and modes of action and speech. It is certain that 
he is very little influenced by surrounding circumstances, following 
the bent of strong natural impulses with a child-like impetuosity and 
simplicity. He seems like one whose pure, innocent nature had re- 
ceived no shocks from the world : s rudeness, and was still in child- 
hood's innocencv. There is also great self-reliance. Not that he 
really feels an over-confidence in himself, for, put to the point, he 
would declare that he had not the least. But he has a wide-awake 
irresistible conscience, and it is this which will never suffer him to 
depart from the rule which brings everything to its judgment and 
test. He is a genial person, and always enters largely into the 
spirit of the social hour. In conversation he never speaks without 
reflection, and generally has frequent paiises for the better digesting 
of his thoughts. 

He is not without peculiarities in the pulpit. Here he shows a 
serious dignity, which is striking. In prayer he crosses his hands 
over the Bible, and, inclining his head upon his breast, speaks in 
low, broken, and pathetic utterances. He preaches with the same 
deliberation that he talks. Every sentiment has been held before 
the mirror of conscience and sanctioned by it, and he utters it with 
his heart's utmost sincerity. His voice has a flat, peculiar tone, but 
it is very tender and emotional 

80 



REV. TALBOT W. CHAMBERS, D. D., 

ONE OF THE PASTORS OP THE COLLEGIATE 
REFORMED CHURCH, NEW YORK!. 




)EV. DB. TALBOT W. CHAMBEES was born at Car- 
lisle, Pennsylvania, February, 1819. He was graduated 
at Butgers College, New Brunswick, and studied theology 
at the Seminary of the Dutch Church in New Jersey, and 
at Princeton. Having been licensed to preach in Mississippi, in 
1838, he settled at Somerville, New Jersey, in the following 
year. In 1849 he was called to New York, to become one of the 
associate pastors of the Beformed Protestant Dutch Collegiate Church, 
in which position he still continues. The ministers of the Collegiate 
Clmrch are the Bev. Dr. De Witt, settled in 1827 (not now in active 
service) ; Bev. Dr. Thomas E. Yemilye, settled in 1839 ; Bev. Dr. Tal- 
bot W. Chambers, settled in 1849 ; Bev. Dr. James M. Ludlow, 
settled in 1868, and Bev. Dr. Ormiston, settled in 1870. The old 
plan of the regular alternating of these ministers, in the Sunday 
services of the different churches, has been somewhat modified. The 
rule is followed with most of them in the morning service, but each 
active minister preaches in his own pulpit at least once each Sun- 
day. 

Dr. Chambers received the degree of D. D. from Columbia Col- 
lege in 1853. He edited the " Memoirs of Bev. John Henry Livings- 
ton, D. D.," and is the author of the history of the "Noon Prayer 
Meeting of the North Dutch Church," and the ''Life of Theodore 
Frelinghuysen. " 

Dr. Chambers is about of the average height, and of slim pro- 
portion. His head is small, and his face pale and of a thoughtful, 
serious expression. He has a round, full brow, showing a large 
degree of intellectual development. He is polite, but in no manner 
familiar in his bearing, and at all times evinces much sedateness. 
He is a person of unwearying studiousness, and of great conscien- 
tiousness and exactness of life. His conversation is methodical, and, 
like his actions, devoid of all impulsiveness. 

81 



REV. TALBOT W. CHAMBERS, D. D. 

Dr. Chambers seems to Lave the complete confidence of the con- 
gregations of the different Collegiate organization. Their faces grow 
bright with satisfaction as they follow his sound, doctrinal, argument- 
ative sermons. They are disturbed by no flashy rhetoric, no poetic 
rhapsodies, and no new-fangled philosophy. There are no attempts 
to introduce the rant of the rostrum, the style of the stage, or the 
clap-trap of the juggler. It is not an oration with everything sacri- 
ficed to eloquence, nor is it a lecture filled with strange fancy and 
large cullings from the profane poets. But it is a sermon in the 
strictest sense. The text is not some sensational word or line, some 
abrupt interrogatory or declaration, after the manner of a Beecher or 
a Cuyler. On the contrary, it is one or a half-dozen verses, or per- 
haps a chapter, which is intended to receive the serious consideration 
of the critical deacons and the logically inclined congregation on 
its own merits, rather than from any peculiar novelty or adroitness 
in its selection or arrangement. Then the plainest and most devout 
terms known to the English language are used, and the inspiration 
of the preacher is entirely drawn from the fountains of logic and of 
faith. He becomes very much absorbed in his theme, and at times 
gesticulates with a degree of vehemence ; but as for any glowing 
pictures of the imagination, or any thunders of eloquence, there are 
none. Dr. Chambers does not believe that such gloss and glitter, 
such delicate soothings to the mind, and such extraordinary efforts 
to move the blood, have anything to do with the preaching of the 
Gospel. The power is in the truth, the persuasion is in the necessi- 
ties of a lost race, and the success is the favor of God. We have 
examined several of Dr. Chambers' published sermons in our posses- 
sion, and do not find a single passage wherein he departs from plain 
argument. There is the highest evidence of sincerity, piety, and 
ability, but nothing in the way of display. He ranks with the most 
popular and ablest of the ministers of the Reformed Church, and 
is recognized as a man of considerable literary ability. 

Seeking only those triumphs which come from the regeneration 
of souls, and those honors which are the rightful portion of such as 
are pure of life and cultivated of mind, Dr. Chambers never deviates 
from the strict line of his professional duties. His time and talents 
are ail given to those works which best serve the church and illu- 
minate the narrow road to God. 

82 










4- 



js. 



PiEY. EDWIN H. CHAPIN, D. D., 

PASTOR OE THE FOURTH UNIVERSALIST SO- 
CIETY, NEW YORK. 




BEV. DE. EDWIN H. CHAPIN was born at Union 
Village. Washington County, New York, December 29th, 
1814. He received his academic education at a seminary 
in Bennington, Vermont, and his early tastes are said to 
have inclined to the law. For a time he was associate editor of 
the Magazine and Advocate, one of the early Universalist news- 
papers in Utica. In 1837, at the age of twenty -three, lie commenced 
his ministry as the pastor of the Independent Christian Church of 
Eichmond, Virginia. He removed to Charlestown, Massachusetts in 
1840, to become the pastor of the Universalist Church, where he 
remained six years. His reputation was already extensive, both as a 
preacher and stirring orator in many of the reforms of the day. In 
1846 Dr. Chapin went to the School Street Universalist Church, 
Boston, as associate pastor with. Hosea Ballou, and in 1848 was 
called to his present pastorship over the Fourth Universalist Society 
of New York city. 

This Society at the time had a church in Murray street, corner 
of Church. Under Dr. Chapin's preaching the congregation in- 
creased in numbers and influence, and very soon the building could 
not accommodate the crowds which attended every service. Ar- 
rangements were made to take the church on Broadway, about to be 
vacated by Dr. Bellow's Unitarian congregation, who had built an 
exceeding fine structure on Fourth avenue. Up to a recent period 
Dr. Chapin occupied this spacious church, drawing the largest as- 
semblages in the city. The congregation became the representative 
of large wealth, and their church organization was con lucted on the 
most liberal scale of expenditure in regard to the salary of the pas- 
tor, music, etc. At length the congregation determined to remove 
np-town, and the church was sold, and stores have been erected 
on the site. Lots were purchased in the upper portion of Fifth 

83 



REV. EDWIN H. CHAPIN, D. D. 

Avenue, and one of the most magnificent structures in New York 
has been erected. The congregation is composed of many of the 
young and active men of the city, and persons of the most conflict- 
ing religious views. 

Although in communion with the Universalist denomination, Dr. 
Chapin's sympathies have far outrun the technical boundaries of a 
sect His religious views were originally affected powerfully by Dr. 
Channing's published writings, and by the leaders of the Univer- 
salist faith; and he is warmly interested in all the literature and 
tendencies issuing from the most free and thoughtful circles of Pro- 
testant Christendom, and that are beginning to receive the title of 
"The Broad Church Movement" 

Dr. Chapin received the degrees of A. M. and D. D. from Har- 
vard University. His published works consist of several volumes 
of sermons, religious lectures, and occasional discourses. " The 
Crown of Thorns " has had a wide circulation. He has delivered lec- 
tures before all the principal lyceums of the country, and has a 
popularity equal to that of any of the orthodox clergymen. 

In 1850 Dr. Chapin attended the Peace congress held at Frank- 
fort-on-the-Main, and a speech delivered by him was the most elo- 
quent heard during the session. He has been repeatedly abroad for 
his health and travel. 

Dr. Chapin is about of the average height, and of a round, heavy, 
corpulent person. He has a good-sized, round head, whicb has not 
much neck to connect it with his shoulders. His brow is prominent, 
and his countenance beams with intelligence and good nature. 
He would scarcely be taken for the refined, florid orator that he is ; 
but it is easy to see that he is a man of marked intellectual powers, 
and, above all, distinguished for the practice of the noblest quali- 
ties of the heart In his dress he in no manner conforms to any of 
the clerical conventionalities. 

On Sabbath evening, enter the fine church edifice of the Fourth 
Universalist Society. Every part of the building is crowded, in- 
cluding the aisles, stairways, and pulpit steps. The people are a 
well-attired and evidently intelligent class. Just at this time a hymn 
is being read, and all over the church men, women, and children 
have their books, intently following the reader. If you love sacred 
poetry, if you delight in correct reading, listen. A voice clear, 
sweet, and impassioned floats to the ear. Every word is distinctly 
and melodiously pronounced, the sentiment of the holy song strongly 

84: 



REV. EDWIN H. CHAPIN, D. D. 

stirs the susceptibilities, and with its last word the mind is left 
dreaming of realities which eloquence has made vivid. The poet, 
the orator, and the spirit of divine power stand personified in the 
reader. It is an utterance of words which flow like the pleasant 
rippling of the summer rivulets — it is an appeal like that of tears — 
it is an earnestness of feeling inspired of God. The arches of no temple 
ever resounded with a voice more impressively eloquent. Many clergy- 
men read psalms and hymns much as children do lessons. They disre- 
gard punctuation, expand sentences into verses, and overlap verse upon 
verse until meaning, rhyme, and effect are altogether lost. Few pretend 
to listen to these murderings of sense and harmony, and great masses 
fail to realize the inspiration to be drawn from the thoughts of the 
sacred posts. But it is not so in Dr. Chapin's church. Children 
stretch their necks to catch every one of the beautifully musical 
words ; and even the aged see wrought out on the page religious 
imagery from words dim to their sight, but sent blazing to their 
souls. Perhaps the syllables are sweeter when mingled with vocal 
and instrumental strains, but they can have no increased power as 
holy utterances. 

Dr. Chapin is as greatly gifted in prayer. The opening words 
are in silvery whispers, which swell into a louder tone, and at the 
close die away into whispers again. He prays from the heart It is 
a fountain gushing with the waters of affection, charity, and faith, 
and many a believer here can see these waters sparkling in the sun- 
light of God's own countenance. The sick, the sorrowing, and the 
poor are especially remembered. In touching accents of pleading, 
and with the zeal of an exhaustless love, he presents their claims for 
divine aid. Now he folds his hands, looks upward, and pauses for 
an instant A great thought seems to be melting within his bosom, 
which even he can scarcely clothe in words. In language of lofty 
power he now speaks of the coming triumph of the cross. Before, 
all was pleading and pathos, but now the tone is one of joy and ex- 
ultation. The change is from the murmuring of sad music to the 
ringing of merry chimes. His face glows with light, he uses words 
of deeper significance, and his wonderful fluency as an extemporaneous 
speaker begins to appear. The little stream has expanded into a 
torrent, and sweeps with it flowers which mingle their perfume with 
its flood. Iniquity rolls up like a scroll from his sight, and his de- 
lighted eyes gaze upon the scenes of a millennium, while his tongue 

paints them in the coloring of religious transport and an ardent 

85 



REV. EDWIN H. C HA PIN, D. D. 

fancy. Then, solemnly invoking a blessing upon the remaining ser- 
vices, the orator in prayer concludes. 

Dr. Chapin is liberally endowed with the capacity for vigorous 
and connected extemporaneous address. In the morning service he 
preaches with very little preparation. It is his custom, however, to 
produce one completely written discourse every week, which is 
spoken from manuscript in the evening. These prepared sermons 
are logically arranged, argumentative to some extent, full of vigorous 
expressions and original thought, but, above all, abound in beautiful 
imagery and impassioned eloquence. Indeed, in this latter respect, 
parts of them are gems of the mind. He is not only particularly 
happy in the selection of his terms of expression, but his illustra- 
tions are made in language of extraordinary originality and beauty. 
There is nothing which he will not twine in poetic thought, and in 
his sublime flights he revels as much with the flowers as he does with 
thunderbolts. His sarcasm is withering, and frequently even more 
sharply pointed by the adding of an original humor. His denun- 
ciation is scornful and overwhelming. But the pervading elements 
of his sermons are a great humanity, love for his fellow-creatures, and 
devotion to the duty to which he has been called. Thrilling to hear, 
they are as beautiful to read. Like vines bending with fruit or 
flowers ; still these vines, after all, cling about sturdy oaks. 

Dr. Chapin's voice is one of much compass, and is as easily and 
correctly modulated as tunes are played by the keys of instruments ; 
it is smooth, without even the slightest harshness, and its sweetness 
and fervor are beyond comparison His gestures are few, but of the 
most effective kind. He is always thoroughly absorbed in his theme, 
and not only in his words, but manner, is impressively earnest, and 
in some passages decidedly excited. The concluding portion of his 
sermons are usually the most powerful and eloquent. He seems to 
have a few pages committed to memory, and he is relieved from the 
close attention to his notes which is a characteristic with him. Now 
he rolls out the burning words and brilliant thoughts — now he gesticu- 
lates with startling vehemence; and now his impassioned utterances 
quicken the blood, or perchance move to tears. 

The listener is spell-bound from the beginning to the end. There 

is no time of weariness, but when the termination comes a freer 

breath is drawn, and there is almost a sensation of pain from the 

fixedness of mind and the overwrought feelings. You have been 

under the fascination of eloquence of the most moving description. 

86 



REV. EDWIN H. CHAPIN, D. D. 

All that the voice, tongue, and mind can do with language has been 
done. The power which sways senates, kindles revolutions, and 
starts the sword from its scabbard — the power of human eloquence — 
has woven one of its potent spells, which is to last even into the 
life of to-morrow. 

By and by you see a person moving with the crowd toward the 
door. He is all smiles, and as he goes along shakes hands right and 
left. He chats pleasantly and constantly, and before he gets far is 
surrounded by a talking deputation, embracing both sexes and all 
ages. It is Dr. Chapin. Seemingly unconscious of his great gifts 
and fame — a plain unassuming man — he is now as unreservedly the 
companion of a child as of the most eminent who greet him. And 
if in the gathering there should be persons of humble estate, they 
will be selected for his especial notice. Presently he reaches the 
street, and, with a kindly good-night to some worthy who per- 
sistently has held to his sleeve, he goes away from the scene of his 
matchless oratory and the altar of his successful ministrations. 

Dr. Chapin's character, life, and religion may all be expressed in 
one word — love. It is the rock upon which he builds for the present 
and the time to come. Turning with horror from the narrow bounds 
of bigotry — cultured to liberal and progressive ideas — of a nature 
kind-hearted and just — professing a religious faith which makes no 
limit to the salvation of man — he has made his whole career and 
his ministry an illustration of liberal sentiments, generous deeds, 
and Christian love. 

87 



RET. JOHN A. M. CHAPMAN, 

PASTOR OF ST. JOHN'S METHODIST CHURCH, 
BROOIiLYN, "E. .T>. 




JOHN" A. M. CHAPMAN" was bora at Greenland, 
H., August 21st, 1829. His father was a farmer. 
At fifteen he became a member of the Methodist church. 
He prepared for college at Hampton, N. H., and en- 
tered the institution at "Waterville, Me., but his health finally 
failed, and he was obliged to leave. He took a two years 
theological course at Concord, N. H. 

He commenced preaching in 1858, as a supply, at Concord. In the 
spring of 1854 he joined the Providence Conference, in which he 
remained until the summer of 1861, when he was transferred to the 
New England Conference. During eight years and a half he was 
the pastor of different prominent churches in the City of Boston. He 
went first to the Hanover street, and subsequently to Tremont street 
and Grace church. He was appointed to his present church, attached 
to the New York East Conference, in the spring of 1871. 

St. John's Methodist Church grew out of the South Fifth street 
Congregation, and was organized in 1868. A magnificent church edifice 
was erected on Bedford avenue, at a total cost of two hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars. This is probably the finest church in the 
denomination. There are about five hundred families and five 
hundred members. The officers, teachers, and pupils of the Sunday 
School number eleven hundred. A Mission Sunday School is con- 
ducted in Taylor street, where there are also held religious meet- 
ings. 

There is certainly a great change taking place in the Methodist 
church. In the cities, especially, it is losing much of its primitive 
character. The abandonment of the old time plain structures, the 
free pew system, of class-meetings, and the excitable mode of pub- 
lic worship, with the introduction of an educated clergy, mark its 
assimilation in a greater degree than ever before to the other 



REV. JOHN A. M. CHAPMAN. 

Protestant denominations. Its free and popular faith will remain 
through all human time, but it cannot be denied that the Methodist 
body of to-day is an organization essentially modified in many of 
its former peculiar features. The good fathers of the church would 
stand astounded, though probably not without pride, in beholding 
the splendid edifice which their modern brethren have built for 
themselves on Bedford avenue. They would likewise marvel at the 
learning and dignity which adorn its pulpit at all times. But these 
innovations are only signs of higher refinement and prosperity, and 
not, by any means, of an altered or corrupted faith. In this age, 
change in almost everything seems certain and rapid, and it is evi- 
dent that the Methodist church, in the particulars named, is a strik- 
ing example of the .fact. 

Mr. Chapman is of the medium height, slender, and erect. His 
head and face show him to be an intellectual man. His manners are 
easy and courteous with all persons. In his disposition he is rather 
retiring and modest, seeking to make neither noise nor displa} r . But 
hidden beneath all this is the strong stern man when duty is to be 
done, and when principles are to be maintained ; then his will be- 
comes inflexible and his courage dauntless. Consequently, his life 
has exhibited the most lovely of the Christian graces, and at the 
same time the power of moral and religious principles. 

He preaches a most effective sermon. In the first place, he is a 
scholarly man, looking learnedly and deeply into all his subjects ; 
and in the second, he is a devout one, feeling his responsibility as a 
preacher of the Word, and tenderly concerned for the salvation of 
sinners. He preaches from head and heart, and he appeals to the in- 
fluence of both in his hearers. His sermons are thoroughly studied, 
but he speaks in the pulpit entirely without notes. His language 
has the freshness of original thought and the glow of a fervent elo- 
quence. Able to hold his place among the most gifted preachers of 
his clay, he never swerves from either faith or propriety, or forgets 
that his chief duty, as well as honor, are to be found in following in 
the meek footsteps of the Master. 

89 



REV. GEORGE B. CHEEVER, D. D., 



]VEW YORK. 




EV. DR GEORGE B. CHEEVER was born at Hallo- 
well, Maine, in 1807. He was graduated at Bowdoin 
College in 1825, and at Andover Theological Seminary 
in 1830, and was ordained pastor of the Howard Street 
Congregational Church at Salem, Mass., in 1832. His 
contributions in prose and verse, on theological and literary 
topics, were published in the North American Review and 
Bible Repository, and he engaged in the Unitarian controversy. In 
1855 he published, in a Salem newspaper, a dream, entitled " Deacon 
Giles' Distillery." This publication involved him in much trouble, 
as Deacon Giles was a veritable person. A riotous attack was made 
upon him in the street, and he was tried and convicted of libel, and 
suffered an imprisonment of thirty days in jail. During the follow- 
ing summer he resigned his pastoral charge, and, going abroad, passed 
over two years in Europe and the Levant. His travels were described 
in letters to the New York Observer. He returned in 1839, and be- 
came pastor of the Allen Street Presbyterian Church, New York. He 
attracted crowded houses to a course of lectures on the " Pilgrim's 
Progress" and on the "Hierarchical Despotism," the latter being a 
reply to a discourse by Bishop Hughes. In 1843 he engaged in a 
public debate with J. L. V. O'Sullivan, Esq., maintaining the argu- 
ment in favor of capital punishment. He went to Europe, in 1841, 
as corresponding editor of the New York Evangelist, and, after his 
return in 1845, was the principal editor. In the following year he 
became pastor of the Church of the Puritans, a new Congregational 
church, located on Union Square, New York. Says a notice : " He 
is distinguished as an energetic preacher, and for the Puritanic appli- 
cation of biblical principles to human conduct and institutions. 
Among the topics which he has treated in the pulpit are — intem- 
perance; Sabbath breaking by railroad companies and government 

90 



EEV. GEORGE B. CHEEVER, D. D. 

orders ; the attempted ejection of the Bible from the public schools ; 
the Mexican war ; the fugitive slave law ; the Dred Scott decision ; 
and the system of American slavery. Since the establishment of the 
New York Independent, in 1848, Dr. Cheever has been a weekly con- 
tributor to it of religious, literary, critical, and political articles. His 
later contributions to the Bibliotheca Sacra are of a more scholarly 
and elaborate character." Among his books are works of prose and 
poetry, and his issues have been continuous since 1828. Of these may 
be named, " Studies in Poetry ; " an edition of the " Select Works of 
Archbishop Leighton;" "Lectures on the Pilgrim's Progress;" 
" Wanderings of a Pilgrim ; " " Journey of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, 
New England, 1620," reprinted from the original volume ; " Wind- 
ing of the Kiver of the. Water of Life ; " " Lectures on the Life, 
Genius, and Sanctity of Cowper;" "God Against Slavery," &c, &c. 

For many years Dr. Cheever and his congregation took a very 
prominent part in the anti-slavery agitation, then going on ; subse- 
quently the church edifice, which was erected on leased ground, was 
sold. The congregation became reduced in members, and have ceased 
to attract attention. 

Dr. Cheever is a person of noticeable appearance. He is of good 
height, straight and active, and his countenance shows him to be a 
thinker of no ordinary degree. He has a liberal quantity of black 
and gray hair on his head, and also wears whiskers, which set his face 
in a complete frill. He looks pale, as if from close study. 

Dr. Cheever is a very poor reader. Sometimes his voice dies away 
as if he was reading to himself, and then it rises, and is quickened as 
if to make up for lost time. But the delivery of his sermons is quite 
another thing. He does not appear like the same speaker. Now his 
voice is invariably full and rich toned, and, instead of a carelessness 
as to the force of words, every one is made effective. He gesticulates 
very much with his right hand, which is almost all the time in motion. 
He is altogether very limber, and an attitude often adopted is to lean 
over the book-board, with his hauds hanging down, at which time he 
whispers some ironical and bitter things with a confidential air. 

The American pulpit has no person in it of more power of mind 
and force of character than Dr. Cheever. He is an original, philo- 
sophical thinker, and has always shown great moral courage in doing 
what he deemed to be his duty as a minister and man. 

91 



REV. FREDERICK G. CLARK, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE TOMPKINS _A.THE:VU:E PRES- 
BYTERIAN CHURCH, BROOKLYN. 




EV. DR. FREDERICK G. CLARK was born at Water- 
bury, Conn., December 13th, 1819. He is the son of the 
late distinguished Rev. Daniel A. Clark, a well-known 
clergyman of New England, and a brother of Hon. Hor- 
W ace F. Clark, a noted member of the New York bar. He en- 
*^3 tered Williams College, but was obliged to leave on account of 
the failure of his health. He spent two years in the study of law, 
after which he passed a year in Europe. He subsequently entered 
the New York University, where he was graduated in 1812. He 
now entered the Union Theological Seminary of New York, from 
which institution he graduated in 1815. He went immediately to 
Greenwich, Conn, where he was ordained. He preached here for a 
year and a half, when he accepted a call to the Presbyterian Church 
at Astoria, Long Island. After laboring in this place for six years, 
he was called to the West Twenty-third Street Presbyterian Church, 
in the city of New York. Under his labors an imposing house of 
worship was erected, and a vigorous church gathered. Dr. Clark 
occupied this pulpit for fifteen years, when he felt the need of change, 
and he accepted a call in May, 1867, to the Second Congregational 
Church in Greenwich, Conn., the church in which he originally 
began his ministry. In 1871, Dr. Clark returned to New York, and 
was soon engaged in his professional work at Brooklyn. In Sep- 
tember, 1872, he was installed Pastor of the Tompkins Avenue 
Presbyterian Church, where a substantial congregation soon gathered 
under his ministry. 

Dr. Clark received his degree of D. D. from the New York Uni- 
versity in 1864. He is the author of a memoir entitled " The Life 
Work of Mary M. Maynard," and many published sermons. 

92 



REV. FREDERICK G. CLARK. D. D. 

"We take the following interesting passages from a lecture to 
young men, entitled " Self Culture" : 

" The idea of self is either full of danger or full of duty, according to our con- 
ception of it. 

" The abused or perverted self is but an egotism of idolatry and selfishness. It 
is the ripe fruit of human depravity, the motive to every injustice, the symbol of 
all unfairness and oppression. This self is its own god ; on its unhallowed altar 
the whole world is not too much to burn. What outrage, what cruelty, what 
Heaven-provoking crime has not been committed under the low inspiration of serv- 
ing self ! 

" On the other hand, the true idea of self, with which alone we wish to deal, is 
quite another thing. This is a living name for the entire estate which God has 
given us— God's acres in man's soul— bestowed upon each other with this one con- 
dition and charge : ' Occupy till I come.' It is something to come in possession of 
a farm, of which the improvement must depend upon our industry. Around the 
homestead are spread out acres upon acres in extent, meadow and pasture, marsh, 
river and wood. It is surely no sinecure to make the most of all these. But it is 
vastly more to be put in charge of one's own soul, to dress it and to keep it ! The 
trusteeship of intelligence, and sensibility, and volition ot all the risks and all the 
hopes of an immortal mind — this is incomparably the heaviest of all commissions. 

"But such is the self whose care and culture is now our study. It is that mys- 
terious world of thought and feeling which is at once pent up and boundless. Its 
sphere is within the chambers of the brain ; its outgoings, its visions, accept no 
boundaries. I speak of a gift which is no prerogative of kings or of scholars ; it 
knows no distinction by caste ; it is indifferent to wealth or poverty. It is the com- 
mon heritage of man. Like the unfenced prairie, it touches the air and drinks the 
dew of heavenly contact, with nothing to come between. 

"I mean this conscious portraiture of Deity which I carry in my bosom: alas! 
how marred and strangely blurred, as by the stroke of some rude hand, yet still 
the image of God. Within the limits of this self what powers I discover of desire, 
of responsibility, of love, of hate, of acquisition, and of godlike beneficence. 
What uprisings of impulse are here. What ambitions strike their roots within this 
bosom ! And how deeply conscious is this soul of its Creator's care and respect ! 
How lavish has He been in means of enriching and cultivating it! 

"This self is a gift which we all receive— a domain which we are bound to 
occupy. To fail of this is to incur the doom of the miserable man in the parable, 
who hid his talent in the earth: 'Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer dark- 
ness.' 

"It is after this interior wealth of character that St. Paul is reaching, when he 
charges his son Timothy to ' stir up the gift of God which is in him.' He is feel- 
ing for the sinews of strength in the soul of his young disciple. He reminds him 
of his pious ancestry. He seeks to make him conscious of spiritual endowments 
which he receives by the grace of God in connection with his ordination. These 
gifts and endowments he is to stir up. The figure is that of fire whose dull embers 
are to be stirred together and blown into a name. It is as if he had said, ' God 
has done much for you, son Timothy; search for that interior wealth of grace and 
mental gifts which He has hidden in your bosom; cultivate these; force them up to 
their highest development, and so make the most of yourself, for your race, and for 
your divine Master.' 



REV. FREDERICK G. CLARK, D. D. 

" There is a splendid gift of God in every rational soul, however humble it may 
be. This gift includes all our endowni?nts, whether spiritual or intellectual — what- 
ever we find ourselves possessed of, which may be used for man's good or God's 
glory. This gift, this power of usefulness, this possibility of development, how- 
ever latent at present, is one talent which we must improve, and at last return with 
usury. " 

Dr. Clark is about the average height, and well proportioned. He 
looks }?ounger than his years, and gives, in every respect, full evi- 
dence of being a man of clear-sightedness and great vigor of pur- 
pose. His head is not large, but it has prominent, intellectual char- 
acteristics, and his face is particularly beaming with intelligence and 
amiability. His manners are courteous, and his blandness at once 
removes all restraints, eveu with the utmost stranger. He talks 
quietly, generally with a great deal of cheerfulness of tone, and in a 
manner which always serves to interest. You find that while he is 
a person greatly absorbed in his religious duties, he is likewise 
a critical observer in the world, and has the most sound and practical 
opinions on all current subjects. Close attachments are formed 
with him, for he is a man of a noble, pious, consistent life, and one 
whose conversation and deportment are not less fascinating than 
useful. 

Dr. Clark is equally acceptable as a preacher. There is nothing 
sensational in his style ; but, on the contrary, he leans to the most 
rigid models of pulpit propriety to be found in the earlier and 
stricter periods of the Church. "With him everything is done 
" decently and in order," with a profound appreciation of the time, 
place, and his duties, and with a purpose single to the expounding 
of the Gospel. His sermons are written with clearness and pointed- 
ness, and with much scholarly finish ; but there is not a word which 
is given for a display of rhetoric or of oratory. He speaks well, 
with ease, and graceful and timely gestures ; but this, too, is done 
with solemnity, mingled with an ever apparent personal modesty. 
His mode of discussing a subject always shows matured and original 
thought. 

Dr. Clark is certainly one of the most substantial men in the 
Presbyterian pulpit. His gifted and devout mind, and clear com- 
mon sense, give him great power as a preacher ; and his extended 
career has added to these an experience which is fruitful of good to 
all with whom he comes in contact. 

n 



REV. NATHANIEL W. CONKLING, 

PASTOR OF KUTGEES PRESBYTERIAN 
CHDRCH. 




EY. NATHANIEL W. CONKLING was born in Coshoc 
ton county, Ohio, December 21st, 1835. He is the son 
of the Eev. Nathaniel Conkling, an Old School Presby- 
terian clergyman, well known in New Jersey and Ohio, 
\ip> and his early studies were in those States. He was graduated 
-~2 at the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, and in theology at 
the Western Theological Seminary, at Alleghany, Penn. In the 
autumn of 1861, he was ordained and installed as the pastor of the 
Scotch Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, were he remained a year 
and a half, and then went to the Arch Street Presbyterian Church, 
in the same city, where he officiated for five years. He next ac- 
cepted a call to Eutgers Presbyterian Church, corner of Madison 
avenue and Twenty-ninth streeet, New York, where he was installed 
on the first Sunday in February, 1868. 

The present Eutgers Church is a union of the former Eutgers 
street Church and the Madison avenue Presbyterian Church. The 
Eutgers street Church was founded in 1798, being the third Presby- 
terian congregation of New York, and with the Wall street, (Dr. 
Phillips,) and the Brick church, (Dr. Spring,) formed the three colle- 
giate Presbyterian churches of the city. These churches became in- 
dependent in 1809. The pastors of the Eutgers street Church were 
the Eev. Dr. Milledoler, Eev. Dr. McClellan, Eev. Dr. Thomas Mc- 
Cauley, and Eev. Dr. Krebs. The ground on which the first edifice 
of the Eutgers congregation was erected was a gift to them by the 
late Henry Eutgers. In 1841 a new church edifice was erected at a 
cost of forty thousand dollars, which in its day was regarded as one 
of the finest buildings in New York. The church, with its organ 
and fixtures, and the parsonage, were sold to the Methodists for an 
amount much less than their- value, who sold them to the Catholics 
for the sum of forty-six thousand dollars. It is now known as the 

95 



REV. NATHANIEL W. COJSTKLING. 

church of St. Theresa, and is attended by a very numerous congrega 
tion. 

Dr. Krebs received a call to the Madison avenue congregatiou, 
which he declined. An engagement was made, however, by which 
the Rutgers street congregation united with the Madison avenue in 
the occupancy of the church of the latter. This is the building 
which was erected by Mr. James Lenox, and is held by the trustees 
for the free use of a congregation of the Presbyterian fiiith. Both 
congregations preserved their own organization, and Dr. Krebs held 
the united pastorship. He was in ill-health for several years, and at 
length died from softening of the brain. Since that time the two 
congregations have adopted the title of the Rutgers Presbyterian 
Church, and Mr. Conkling was called to the pastorship. Under the 
charge of Mr. Conkling the church is again arrowing in numbers, and 
promises to have in the future some of the importance and influence 
which belonged to the Rutgers street congregation in former days. 
In 1873 the church building was enlarged and improved. 

Mr. Conkling is of the medium height and well-built. His head 
is in excellent proportion to his body, and the features are regular, 
with not much that is specially striking about them. In fact, his 
head and face are those ordinarily seen in most intelligent men, 
and there is nothing in them to denote that he has any special quali- 
fications beyond this. The brow is not high, but it is quite broad; 
the eyes are small and deep-set ; the nose and mouth are well 
molded, and the expression of the whole is that of an amiable, good 
man. His manners are courteous and agreeable. He is easy and 
graceful in all his movements, and has a ready and cheerful flow of 
conversation. Withal there is a great deal of genuine modesty about 
his deportment, which, while it is not like diffidence, shows that he 
has great regard for clerical dignity and propriety. He is a lover of 
study, and has deep religious convictions. His mental perceptions 
are very clear and comprehensive, and his investigations are always 
of the most thorough character. Hence his mind is richly stored, 
and is particularly profound on the topics which most relate to his 
religious doctrines. He is not one to make any undue display of 
learning, and, in truth, he is rather inclined to be secretive of it 
from very fear of being thought pedantic. When it is called for, 
however, in the discharge of his clerical functions, he is found to be 
one of the safest reasoners in his church. At the same time his 
views have a newness and originality which is quite captivating, 

96 



EEY. NATHANIEL W. CONKLING. 

Such a teacher and preacher as this must make his mark wherever 
he goes. And it has been a circumstance often commented upon, 
that the congregations over which Mr. Conkling has presided were 
made, by his style of preaching and exposition of the Scriptures, a 
thinking and clear-headed body of believers. They were not found 
groping in the dark in regard to their doctriues, nor were they to be 
changed by any new notions of the hour. Looking to him for 
intellectual light they were sure to receive it; and following his 
teachings, they were not only faithful to religious principles, but 
understood them in their origin and application. 

Mr. Conkling has very agreeable manners in the pulpit He is 
composed and self-possessed, but without the slightest sign of any- 
thing that is consequential. He is gifted and earnest in prayer, reads 
the psalms and hymns with distinctness and fervor, and preaches his 
sermon with dignity and grace of deportment, and in a fluent argu- 
mentative style of address. There is nothing in either manners or 
matter to cause special remark as being singular and personal to 
himself, but there is everything to interest and inform the serious- 
minded hearei'. He treats religious subjects from a purely spiritual 
standpoint, and he makes the services of the house of God serious 
and solemnly impressive. There is no parade of his own views, no 
assumption of personal authority in announcing the religious and the 
moral law, and no effort to so impress the auditor that the after re- 
membrance will be more of the actions and utterances of the preacher 
rather than simply the memory of a profitable season of public wor- 
ship. On the contrary he shrinks away, and seems humble and as 
nothing in the presence of his responsibilities as a teacher of the 
Scriptures and a religious guide for men. His confidence comes 
from the truths which he utters, and his fluency is the ardor of faith. 
His voice has pleasant modulations, and in passages of an emotional 
character becomes very tender and touching. His gestures are all 
well timed and expressive. From these charactei-istics it is to be 
seen that Mr. Conkling is one of the best models of the dignified, 
consistent clergyman of the day. In all his walks, and in his public 
ministrations, he looks strictly to the honor and dignity of his calling, 
and to the persistent discharge of his duties in the manner which will 
best accomplish fruits of immortal souls. The display of personal 
talents, and an ambitious seeking of positions and emoluments, give 
place to a studious private life and an humble public one. 

97 



REV. THOMAS K. CONRAD, D. D., 

A.SSISTANT RECTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE 
HEAVENLY REST (EPISCOPAL), NEW YORK. 




■EV. DR. THOMAS K CONRAD was born in the city 
of Philadelphia, January 19th, 1836. He is a nephew of 
Judge Conrad, a distinguished man in law and literature. 
Ilpr"" ' His early academic studies were pursued in his native 
place, and he graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 
1855. Having determined to prepare for the Episcopal minis- 
try, he entered upon a course of private theological study with the 
late Bishop Alonzo Potter, of Pennsylvania. He was made deacon 
May 24th, 1857, at St Philip's Church, Philadelphia, by Bishop 
Potter, and priest January 19th, 1860, at St. Mark's Church, Phila- 
delphia, by the same bishop. A few months after his admission to 
deacon's orders, he commenced to officiate as rector of the Church 
of All Saints, Philadelphia. This was November 1st, 1857, and 
he continued with the parish until 1859. At this latter period his 
attention had been turned to the want of another Episcopal church 
in Germantown, and during 1859 his efforts resulted in the erection 
of Calvary Church in that place. He was called as the rector, and 
thus remained for about four years, until 1863. He next received 
a call to St. John's Church, Clifton, Staten Island, N. Y, a wealthy 
and important parish, where he officiated with great zeal for nearly 
four years. After the resignation of this rectorship, he did not accept 
another immediately, but employed himself in giving occasional as- 
sistance to the Rev. Dr. Robert S. Howland, at the Church of the 
Holy Apostles, Ninth Avenue, New York. 

This pastoral association led to an important religious movement 
in another field. Dr. Conrad very much desired to go into one of 
the fine up-town neighborhoods and establish a new Episcopal church. 
In this purpose he was very much encouraged by Dr. Howland, who 
also expressed a desire to aid such an undertaking with pecuniary 




' £-2t 






REV THOMAS K. CONRAD, D. D. 

means of his own. As an experiment, a chapel-service was com- 
menced at Kutgers Female College, in Fifth avenue, both Dr. How- 
land and Dr. Conrad officiating. These services were a signal suc- 
cess. Very soon a new parish, under the name of the Church of 
the Heavenly Eest, was organized, and steps taken for the erection 
of an edifice for public worship. The parish was organized May 
18th, 1868, and is already large in the numbers, and influential in 
the character of its members. Dr. Howland is the senior rector, and 
Dr. Conrad is assistant, having the principal charge. 

Arrangements were made to build the church in connection with 
other elegant and costly improvements, which were to be carried out 
for Dr. Howland on property belonging to him on Fifth avenue and 
Forty-fifth street. The visitor to this magnificent portion of the 
city will observe that the main church building has been erected in 
the rear of several lots, while the larger half of the front portion on 
Fifth avenue, and on Forty-fifth street is occupied by first-class resi- 
dences. A space on Fifth avenue between the houses, is occupied 
by the front of the church, which is not of the width of the main 
structure, but is uniform with the other buildings, and has a very 
tasteful architectural effect. Altogether the design, though new and 
of the most practical character, is harmonious and elegant, and does 
not in any manner detract from the merits of the church as an im- 
posing public building. Nothing has been lost in the necessary 
dimensions, which are about one hundred feet in width, and one 
hundred and thirty-five in length, and, as completed, the building 
will seat about one thousand people. The interior is very beautiful. 
It is elaborate and costly, and shows the highest architectural and 
artistic taste. The pews and other fittings are in solid wood, and 
the chancel has one of the most magnificent pieces of wood- 
carving to be seen in the United States. All the pillars are of 
polished variegated marble, and very expensive. The stained win- 
dows, and the painting of the walls and arches, show beautiful ar- 
tistic effects. The reading desk is a pedestal with a spread eagle in 
brass, and the pulpit is a fine specimen of workmanship. The font 
is richly sculptured, and was presented by some of Dr. Conrad's 
friends in St. John's parish, Staten Island. This interior, taken as 
a whole or in detail, will bear the most critical examination. Turn 
where you will you are deeply impressed with its taste and beauty, 
and entire harmony with the sacred character of the edifice. The 
expenditure on this property amounts to more than two hundred 



REV. THOMAS K. CONRAD, D. D. 

thousand dollars. The first public services were held in the new 
building in February, 1869, and regular services are now held twice 
each Sabbath. 

Dr. Conrad received his degree of D. D., from Pennsylvania 
College at Gettysburg in 1868. He has published various occa- 
sional sermons by request 

He is tall, well-proportioned, and erect. His head is large, and 
of an oblong shape, with a large faca All the features are massive 
and prominent, but they are as finely molded as in a more delicate 
cast of countenance. The forehead is full, broad, and high ; the 
eyes are large, oval-shaped, and clear; the nose is Eoman, and the 
mouth is handsome and expressive. It is an intellectual and a man- 
ly faee in the fullest sense. You see in it mental vigor, ambition, 
energy, and feeling. 

His thoughts and acts have scope, meaning, and force, combined 
with an originality and individuality which are unmistakably his 
own. He is not a meek, but a proud man ; but his pride is in a self- 
reliance which he always feels and displays; in an earnestness of 
mind and purpose which proves itself in its works, and in an ambi- 
tion which seeks not less moral excellence, than it does personal 
exaltation. He is a calm reasoner as to causes and effects, and as to 
forces and obstacles, and when he moves h :■ is sharp and effective, 
but it is calculation and not impulse. He is far-seeing, determined, 
and courageous. His natural qualities all fit him for positions of 
responsibility, and to be a leader rather than a follower among men. 

Nature in man shows its defects and weaknesses. Like Pope, 
the greatest are sometimes the meanest. Brilliant talents, all-power- 
ful energy, and soaring ambition are often mingled with the most 
ignoble attributes of character. The evidence of genius is neither 
the evidence of truth nor of morality. We must look behind the 
blaze of talents for the true and noble man. Give him all greatness 
of mind, and the credit of all success in life's achievements, and 
still we know him not. He must be brought to the moral and man- 
hood test, and he must stand it, or he is like gold which the fire 
proves to be dross. Every public character, and especially every 
minister of the gospel, should be brought to this test before the 
honors of tame are awarded to him. 

The gentlemanly manners, and the frank, manly speech of Dr. 

Conrad, are significant in this closer analysis which we propose. 

Without affectation of courtliness or dignitv, he excels in both; and 

100 J 



REV. THOMAS K. CONEAD, D. D. 

while tie is ever so much practiced in etiquette, there is a graceful- 
ness and naturalness in it that prove it to be nature and not acting. 
Then his sentiments are free-spoken — they bear the impress of the 
heart, and they reflect the upright and noble character. He has no 
disguises: in fact, the only impulsiveness he has about him is in 
his opinions. Sensitive, ardent, and fearless, he is never uncertain 
as to his views ; nor does he hesitate to make them known. But he 
never wounds and never repels you even when he differs from you. 
He is gentlemanly, consistent and respectful in all things and at all 
times, and you are irresistibly impressed with this fact. 

In the pulpit, you obtain a clear insight into his moral and reli- 
gious character. His sermons are aglow with feeling and strong in 
power of thought, and grasp of the mind. It is not superficial 
feeling or thought, but it is the genuine flow of the heart. He 
knows his own duty, and he tells you yours ; hr points out the 
agencies which make him bolder and better for his own struggle, 
and he inspires you with his own desires, hoj)es, and faith. He 
stands the champion of his own church, and of her teachings in the 
great matters of doctrine, and in all the rules of morals, and he 
bends the whole force of his nature, and the whole ardor of his 
convictions to do this work faithfully and effectively. He is keenly 
sensitive to failure, and he is justlv proud of success, and hence all 
his duties show thorough sincerity and heartiness of effort. This is 
fully apparent in his sermons. They are written and delivered with 
care, and with a practical view to satisfactory results. His voice is 
smooth and powerful, and his manners are dignified and effective. 
With large resources of mind, great fixedness and purity of charac- 
ter, Dr. Conrad must be regarded, in the pulpit and in the other 
labors of the ministry, as one of the most brilliant and valuable 
members of the clerical profession at the present time. 

101 



REV. SAMUEL COOKE, D.D., 

RECTOR OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DEPISCOF'A.ll. 
CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




5 ^EY. DB. SAMUEL COOKE was bom at Danbury, Con- 
necticut, August 5th, 1815. His father was Judge D. B. 
Cooke, and his grandfather, Hon. Joseph P. Cooke, was 
a member of the Continental Congress, and considered 
&ST in his day one of the most prominent men in Connecticut 
Judge Cooke was a strict Presbyterian, and his son was 
seldom allowed to enter the churches of other denominations. At 
the age of sixteen the young man was sent to the village of Walden, 
New York, where his brother was engaged in a large manufacturing 
business. While here he gave evidence of a decided literary ability, 
which was coupled with excellent oratorical powers. He spent much 
of his time in study, and repeatedly received invitations to deliver 
lectures and Fourth of July orations in the leading towns of Orange 
County. He became a communicant of the Episcopal Church, and, 
having determined to prepare for the ministry, in the year 1835 en- 
tered the Episcopal Theological Seminary. He was graduated in 1838, 
and received calls to various positions in the churches, all of which 
he declined. Shortly after his ordination as deacon, being in delicate 
health, he made a tour through Western New York. During this 
trip he chanced to be at the village of Lyons, on a Sabbath, where 
there were a few Episcopalians but no church. When about leaving 
the place for Geneva, he accepted an invitation to remain and preach, 
the ministers of two churches having kindly offered their pulpits. He 
preached twice, and with great acceptability. A few days later, he 
was informed that six thousand dollars had been raised towards 
building an Episcopal church in the village, on condition that he ac- 
cepted the rectorship, and that a salary of eight hundred dollars was 
also subscribed. He felt it his duty to accept the call. 

After his marriage with Miss Emma Walden, daughter of Jacob 
T. Walden, formerly of New York, and founder of the village of 

102 



REV. SAMUEL COOKE, V. D. 

Walden, he removed to Lyons, and held services in the Court House 
while his church was in process of erection. He resided in Lyons for 
a period of five years, when he was called to the finest church in 
Western New York, situated at Geneva. The church built in Lyons 
cost twelve thousand dollars, and the original number of communi- 
cants was only six ; but during the five years the debt was entirely 
paid, and the communicants increased to between one and two hun- 
dred. Soon after settling at Geneva, Dr. Cooke was elected one of 
the trustees of Hobart College, located in the town. 

" The Great Hand," says a statement, " which had hitherto directed 
his efforts, did not destine him long to remain in his beautiful western 
home. One Sunday, feeling that he needed rest, he applied to several 
rectors of neighboring parishes to exchange duties with him for the 
day ; but, strange to say, he was unable to succeed in his wish. Every 
one to whom he applied was either detained at home by official duties, 
or did not desire to leave his church for that Sunday. Thus, contrary 
to his earnest wish, he was obliged to remain at home. Truly ' man 
proposes, but God disposes.' That very day a committee of gentle- 
men attended service in the church, and at its close tendered him a 
call to the newly organized parish of St. Paul's Church, New Haven. 
Visiting the new field of dutv to which he seemed thus directly called 
by God, and satisfied that here was an opportunity for advancing his 
Master's kingdom, after two years' residence in Geneva, during which 
time the church under his charge had greatly prospered, he removed 
to New Haven." 

St. Paul's Church, hitherto a chapel of Trinity Church, in the 
same city, had just separated from the mother parish, and organized 
as a distinct body. From this time the congregation steadily in- 
creased, until St. Paul's took a position second to none in the diocese. 

In 1850 Dr. Cooke received a call to St. Bartholomew's Church, 
New York city, which he accepted. This church was weighed down 
with a large debt, but very soon every available pew was taken at 
increased rents, and every day saw the parish increasing in strength 
and prosperity. At an early day a considerable portion of the debt 
was paid by subscription among the congregation, and the church 
was altered and improved throughout. Dr. Cooke received the de- 
gree of A.M. from Yale College while at New Haven, and, after his 
removal to New York, the degree of D.D. from Columbia College 
and the University of New York in two successive days, while lie 
was booked for the same degree at Hobart College. 

103 



REV. SAMUEL COOKE, D. D. 

St. Bartholomew's parish, now numbers seventeen hundred souls ; 
it has about seven hundred regular communicants, and the congrega- 
tion is one of the wealthiest and most charitable of the city. There 
is connected with the church a school of one hundred poor children, 
who are entirely clothed and educated by the congregation. 

Such, in brief, are some of the results of the labors of Dr. Samuel 
Cooke during a ministry of thirty-five years. The fitting crown to 
his life-work, however, is the magnificent new church edifice recently 
erected for St. Bartholomew's congregation, on the corner of Madison 
Avenue and Forty-Fourth Street. 

St. Bartholomew's bears some resemblance to the Cathedral of 
Pisa — Lombardic style. The church covers a lot 75 front by 145 
feet in length. There is one grand or central entrance, which is or- 
namented with richly carved caps to columns of Aberdeen and Peter- 
head (Scotland) granite, with bas relief in tympanums of the door, 
surmounted by a garbelle carved cross. The carving is done in Ohio 
freestone. There are two subordinate doors of a more modified de- 
sign — one in the tower and one south of the vestibule. The height 
of the front from sidewalk to top of main gable and tower, which is 
on the corner of Madison Avenue and Forty-Fourth Street, including 
large iron cross, is 200 feet. The extreme length of the interior of 
the church is 129 feet, by 71 feet in width. It is divided into three 
aisles — one centre and two side. The centre is 43 feet wide by 59 
feet high ; the side aisles are each 14 feet wide and 27 feet high. 
They are divided by seven polished Scotch granite columns, sur- 
mounted by an arcade, open triporium, and clere-story. The ceiling 
is grained, and the whole interior decorated in polychrome. The 
side walls are divided into seven bays, each containing a stained-glass 
window. The rear gable is pierced with a window of three bays, and 
rich designs over the chancel. The chancel has a costly and 
chastely decorated screen, extending the whole width behind the 
altar. On each side are the vestry and retiring-rooms. The organ 
is placed in the gallery over the front vestibule. In the side aisles 
"and chancel memorial windows are furnished by members of the con- 
gregation. The heat and ventilation of the church are furnished by 
steam from boilers placed under the vestry and in cellars. St, Bar- 
tholomew's cost about two hundred thousand dollars, and seats 1000 
persons. 

The lot belonging to the church is 100 feet front ; and as the 
church occupies only 75 feet there remain 25 feet front, upon which 
a parsonage and school have been built The rectory fronts on 

104 



REV. SAMUEL COOKE, D. D. 

Madison Avenue, and consists of four stories. It is in harmony of 
design and material with the church. The school building is of two 
stories, 28 feet by 48, and both buildings connect directly with the 
interior of the church. The church was completed and opened for 
divine services in the latter part of 1872. 

Dr. Cooke is of the medium height and of full person. His ap- 
pearance is clerical, and his manners are reserved and dignified. He 
has a round, bald head, of much intellectuality, and his face is thor- 
oughly expressive of a benevolent, upright, and Christian man. Like 
most Episcopal clergymen, he seems altogether absorbed in his pro- 
fessional character. He is not disposed to walk an inch from the 
well-understood line of clerical propriety, or to undertake any labor 
but that pertaining to the upholding of religion. He has neither a 
morbid hankering for more exciting fields of effort, nor does he sigh 
for secular notoriety in the room of mere church renown. Full of 
energy, and fortunate in pushing forward all enterprises with. which 
he connects himself, still for strictly worldly affairs he lacks both in- 
clination and heart. A successful ministry and advancement as a 
churchman form the scope of his ambition, and to his view are ample 
reward for the self-denying toil of the longest life. He is altogether 
too conscientious and too high-toned in his standard of morals to 
sacrifice duty to gain, or the triumphs of the ministry for the admi- 
ration of the world. An earnest man, a faithful, humble Christian, 
a talented and eloquent preacher, he has secured a character which 
serves as a light to his generation, and won a name long to be cher- 
ished in the annals of the church. Tested in many trials, unwearied 
in well doing, constant to every principle, and faithful to every friend, 
he has an undisputed title to the praise which men award him. 

His sermons are smoothly written, and always eloquent arguments. 
He reasons vigorously, and in a mode of progression which carries 
conviction at every step. His delivery is fluent, and his voice is 
clear and mellow. Using but few gestures, he addresses himself 
calmly and fixedly to his subject. The entire absence of vain dis- 
play, the completeness of the discussion, and the evident sincerity of 
the speaker, arrest undivided attention, and there are few who preach 
a more popular discourse. 

Dr. Cooke ranks with the ablest of the Episcopalian clergy. Cer- 
tainly none of them have had a more successful or honorable career, 
Greatly beloved by his congregation, and highly appreciated by his 
professional brethren, he may well enjoy the contentment of the just. 

105 " 



REV. JOHN E. COOKMAN, A. M., 

LATE PASTOR OF THE METHODIST FREE 

TABERNACLE, IIYEW YORK. 




EV. JOHN E. COOKMAN was born at Carlisle, Pennsyl- 
vania, June 8th, 1836. His early studies were in Phila- 
delphia, where he was graduated at the High School in 
1854. He received the degree of A. M. at this institution 
m 1857. His theological studies were at a small seminary 
in New Hampshire, which has recently been removed to Bos- 
ton, and is now known as the Boston Theological Seminary. Prior 
to 1861 he preached under the direction of the Presiding Elder 
of the New Jersey Conference at a church in New Brunswick. 
In 1861 he was received into the New York Conference, and sta 
tioned at Lenox, Massachusetts, where he remained two years. His 
ministry at this place was marked by an extensive revival. He 
was next appointed to the Methodist Church in One Hundred and 
Twenty-fifth street, Harlem, where he officiated for two years. After 
this he went to "Washington Street Church in Poughkeepsie, where 
his term of service was prolonged through three years. Here also 
a very extraordinary revival took place, during which over three 
hundred persons experienced religion. In April, 1868, he was ap- 
pointed to the Bedford Street Church, New York, and subsequently 
reappointed to the same church. He next went to Trinity Method- 
ist Church, now known as the Free Tabernacle of the Methodist 
Church in Thirty-fourth street, where he remained the pastor until 
the spring of 1874. 

Mr. Cookman is of the average height, and well-proportioned. 
His head is round, with regular, intelligent features. He is youth- 
ful in appearance, and full of vigor and activity. His manners are 
courteous and extremely prepossessing. He is a man devoid of 
everything like self-sufficiency. It is undoubtedly his effort to appear 
exactly as he is, without any of the restraints which ministerial dig- 
nity imposes. He is circumspect enough to keep within the bounds 

106 



KEV. JOHN E. COOKMAN, A. M. 

of a sensible propriety, but beyond this he is extremely free and 
social with all persons. You find him one of those honest, frank, 
and candid men in both speech and manners, who at once win your 
regard. If you have known him a day or his lifetimeitis all the same 
with him, for he appears to you with the same characteristics. He 
is of an entirely natural and simple nature, and such natures are the 
truest to friendship, and always companionable. Cheerful, warm, 
and sympathetic, they show the human heart in its best, though it 
may not be in its most striking phases of action. The bitterness, envy, 
selfishness, and vanity, that loom up in the character which has 
more of the original and demonstrative peculiarities, and which men 
are wont to admire and imitate, have no claim or part in this other 
that we are describing. It may be passive and negative, it may be 
without especial brilliancy or force, but yet it is supremely beautiful 
and noble in its high merit of truth, tenderness, and love. Such is 
the character of Mr. Cookman, as it is found under all circumstan- 
ces. He is a plain, honest, fair man. There is nothing studied, 
nothing artificial, and nothing assumed about him. He is real 
and true. He may not have the glitter of the diamond, but he has 
the pure gold of manly character. 

As a preacher his power is in his emotional style. He preaches 
to the heart. This member of the human organization is the only 
citadel of sin that he cares anything about in his assaults in the 
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Once in possession of it, he main- 
tains that he can dictate his terms of submission to the mind. 

Methodism holds strongly to this kind of preaching, while the 
Presbyterian, and some of the other denominations, have always 
doubted its lasting effects, though never its primary success. The 
Methodist preacher looks at the man or woman as a creature of emo- 
tions, sympathies, affections, sorrows, and joys. The fool may feel 
all these just as acutely, and perhaps more keenly, than the most 
learned person on the face of the earth. All mankind have the 
weakness of hearts, while it is the few who have the strength which 
comes from mind. Hence it is clear that a great deal of pro- 
found preaching is thrown away, and it is equally clear that there is 
not one single word addressed to the heart which is lost in its effects. 
Eeligion is after all more of an emotion than a conviction, for it is 
inborn in the human soul. The Indian who has never heard of a 
God or the teachings of revelation, is touched, subdued, and con- 
trolled by the Great Spirit of which nature alone has told him. Man 

107 



REV. JOHN E. COOKIAN, A. M. 

everywhere, no matter how ignorant or debased, worships something 
from impulses which spring from the heart. When the being is 
educated or improved, and the mind comes into play, different doc- 
trines are accepted or rejected, but the act of devotion and worship 
is no more sincere than when it was done in ignorance and hea- 
thenism. 

The Methodist church has its doctrines, and is very tenacious of 
them too. But its first aim is to convert, not to Methodism, but to 
God. It beats with raining tears, with Christian love and persua- 
sion, upon the stony heart, and it leads in the path trod by a sorrow- 
ing, forlorn Eedeemer, until the stubborn knee bends in penitence 
and prayer. It goes with its appeal to the torn and tender heart, 
and when this has been touched, awakened, and conquered, it is 
ready to impart the lessons which are to be addressed more particu- 
larly to the mind. 

Mr. Cookman is a revivalist. He looks upon a ministry as bar- 
ren and unprofitable without these awakenings. A convert here 
and there, a heart touched, but hundreds of souls sleeping uncon- 
scious in sin, is a condition of things which he views with positive 
terror. Consequently he is alwaj^s at work, and Satan finds no rest 
within his pastorate. Young himself, full of emotion and tenderness, 
he shows a consistency, kindness, and good will in his efforts, which 
it is difficult for the young or the old to resist. He comes with no 
frowns or rebukes, with no self-sufficiency in his own grace, but he 
comes as a brother, feeling for every woe, and a messenger of peace 
and joy. Eloquent, nay, almost inspired with a power and zeal 
from on high, he rouses up the dormant feelings of his hearers, and 
plays upon the heart's emotions with the consummate art of one 
who has studied its most secret depths. His voice is soft, and yet 
powerful, and his manners are tender and yet expressive. There is 
no effort, no straining for sensation, but there is abundant evidence 
that every instrumentality of his thoughts and heart is being used 
for the single purpose of carrying truth to the hearts of his congre- 
gation. He does not seek to be profound in scholarship in these 
sermons. He speaks well, clearly, and to the point, but does not 
run off into erudite disquisitions. He takes everyday life, its toils 
and temptations, its sorrows and joys ; he takes the human heart 
in sin, indifference, and guilt, and he takes it purified, zealous in 
good deeds, and happy and hopeful. This is a broad field, and he 
knows how to work it to the best advantage. 

108 



KEV. WILLIAM P. CORBIT, 



PASTOR OE THE SEVENTH STREET METHO- 
DIST CHUBCH, NEW YORK. 




EV. WILLIAM P. CORBIT was born in the city of 
Philadelphia, October 12th, 1820. His birth was hum- 
ble, and, having had hardly any educational advantages, 
he became at an early period a teamster. In his six- 
teenth year he was converted under the ministry of Rev. 
^?3 Charles Pitman, at St. George's Methodist Church, in Phila- 
delphia. At this time, in his own words, he "scarcely knew the 
rale of three direct ;" but he had some natural parts as a speaker 
and a great deal of religious enthusiasm, and he became an exhorter, 
and finally a class-leader. In the spring of 1840 he sold out his 
horses and carts and took up his abode with Mr. Pitman, then the 
pastor of a church at Trenton, New Jersey, and commenced the 
study of theology. Friends in Philadelphia offered to provide money 
to send him to college, but this he declined, for reasons satisfactory 
to himself and them. During the following spring he entered the 
New Jersey Conference as a traveling preacher in the Freehold cir- 
cuit, and thus continued for one year. Since that period he has 
been employed without interruption in the work of the ministry. 
He has been stationed in the following fields of labor : Orange, New 
Jersey, two years ; Bordentown (where he built a new church), two 
years ; Cape May circuit, one year ; Halsey Street Church, Newark, 
two years : Hackettstown, two years ; Franklin Street Church, 
Newark, two years ; Broad Street Church, Newark (which he found- 
ed), one year ; Madison Street Church, New York, two years, and 
same congregation in Cherry street two years ; Greene Street Church, 
two years ; Trinity Church, Jersey City, two years ; Clinton Street 
Church, Newark, two years ; Alanson Church, New York, two 
years. In April, 1866, he commenced an appointment at the Sev- 
enteenth Street Church, New York, for two years. 

109 



REV. WILLIAM P. CORBIT. 

After filling some other appointments, he went to the DeKalb 
Avenue Church, Brooklyn, where he served two years, and in the 
spring of 1874 went to the Seventeenth Street Church, New York. 

Mr. Corbit is something over the medium height, with square, 
broad shoulders, and well-proportioned figure. When he walks his 
body is in a measure thrown forward, and he has a long, quick 
stride. His head is of good size, his features are regular, his com- 
plexion is quite dark, and he has long black hair. He looks to be 
an intelligent man, and certainly one of a great deal of force and per- 
severance of character. " I never fail in anything," he remarked to 
us. " Not that /am anything, but through the goodness of my God 
I have a purpose which never grows weaiy. The experience of my 
ministry is wonderful. I have been exalted as few men are, and I 
have been assailed by detraction of the most bitter character ; but 
I have kept right on with my work in the field of the Lord Jesus. 
I never was defeated in any plan of my life, for I prayed and trusted 
in God, and those who do the same thing will succeed in the same 
way. I don't believe in the word/cw7, sir." 

With the determination of overcoming all the obstacles in the 
way of an uneducated man seeking admission into the Christian 
ministry, and of reaching a conspicuous position as a pulpit speaker 
and Bible expounder, he turned from his manual occupation 
and began to grope his way in the mazy and tedious labyrinths of 
learning. He had much to do, but he had patience, indomitable 
perseverance, a soaring ambition, and an ardent love for religious 
truths. While yet on the threshold of his investigations, and still 
feeble and undisciplined in his mental powers, he was called to 
the practical work of the ministry. A natural fluency of speech 
served him greatly. He could always talk, and he made the very 
best use of all the knowledge he had acquired. Every sermon that 
he preached, however much it affected his hearers, he resolved 
should be excelled by the next one he delivered His themes of 
discourse were never out of his mind. He studied his Bible and 
every other book which would assist him, and his fine natural parts 
quickened and strengthened with every day. He did preach better 
and better. His eloquence became refined by education, and at tbe 
same time more powerful and effective, and he gradually won a 
place of eminence in his denomination. 

He is somewhat an eccentric preacher. He says many pointed 

personal things, uses odd illustrations, tells anecdotes, and sometimes 

no 



REV. WILLIAM P. CORBIT. 

when he wants to make a quotation from a hymn, sings it. On one 
occasion when we heard him he sang one verse, and then two others, 
to a different tune, and it was very good singing too. His preach- 
ing is extemporaneous and without notes. His manner of prepara- 
tion is simply to review his subject mentally, leaving the language 
to be used entirely to the inspiration of the moment. He speaks in 
exceedingly terse and well-molded sentences, and his arguments 
are reasoned with no little skill and power. Many of his views are 
original, and show the keenest mental discrimination; and all that he 
says is uttered with the enthusiasm of eloquence and religious zeal. 

Like most Methodist preachers, he addresses his appeal chiefly 
to the feelings. " Man wants Heaven," said Mr. Corbit while speak- 
ing to us on this subject. " He wants to be told all about it, and to 
have his heart softened and melted by the tale of Jesus, and not 
knocked down by theological sledge-hammers in the way of doctrinal 
arguments." Hence in his preaching he uses every means to arouse 
his congregation to a deep state of feeling. His voice, manner, and 
language are all directed to this point, and he seldom fails to pro- 
duce the result he desires. When he finds that his hearers are not 
only listening to him, but are swayed in their emotions by his own, 
he is in his element at once, so to speak. His tongue and mind and 
soul are all aglow with enthusiasm, and there seems absolutely no 
limit to his power of language to proclaim sacred truths and to 
teach the awakening heart. Words fall from his mouth in a del- 
uge. He has pathos, sentiment, and sound practical reasoning. He 
thunders until the echoes of his voice go far beyond the church walls, 
and then he speaks in tones as soft and sweet as music. All this is 
a very effective kind of eloquence, and that kind which does won- 
ders in the Methodisb congregations. They delight in these moving 
appeals, these reverberating shouts, and these pathetic whisperings. 
They are wont to call Mr. Corbit's preaching the style of the good 
old days of Methodism, when to cry Hallelujah and Glory to God 
was not an offence against church propriety. , 

Mr. Corbit is of a social, genial disposition, and is popular among 
the people. Certain peculiarities of manner and speech follow him 
into private life, and in every circle he is the conspicuous and lead- 
ing person. He talks a great deal, and mixes up subjects of religion 
with secular topics in a style quite original. He is a man never 
abashed, of ready repartee, good natured, and altogether an interest- 
ing character. ni 



REV. SAMUEL HANSON COX, D. D., 




>EV. DR. SAMUEL HANSON COX was born at Lees- 
ville, New Jersey, August 25th, 1793. His parents be- 
longed to the Society of Friends. After the death of his 
father, who was a New York merchant, his mother re- 
moved, with her three sons and two daughters, to Philadelphia, 
of which place she was a native. Here Samuel attended 
school until 1811, when he went to Newark, N. J., to study law. 
Continuing his studies until November, 1812, the subject of religion 
then became his chief thought He was licensed to preach the Gos- 
pel by the Presbytery of New York, and ordained by the Presbytery 
of New Jersey at Mendham, July 1st, 1817. He remained the only 
pastor at Mendham until the autumn of 1820, when he removed to 
New York city, having accepted a call to the Spring street church 
on a salary relatively much less than his income at Mendham. His 
health being much impaired, he sailed for Europe on the 10th of 
April, 1833, and traveled extensively in Great Britain and Ireland, 
and also in France, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland, returning 
at the expiration of seven months greatly improved. In the spring 
of 1831 he was invited to accept the professorship of sacred rhetoric 
and pastoral theology at Auburn, which was renewed later in the 
year and accepted. He remained at Auburn until May, 1837, when 
• he was installed pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn. 
In May, 1846, he was chosen moderator of the General Assembly of 
the Presbyterian Church, and in August he attended the meeting of 
the Evangelical Alliance in London. A resolution was introduced 
into that body declaring that no person holding slaves or defending 
slavery should be admitted to its membership. Dr. Cox was on his 
feet in an instant, and to the surprise of everybody, denounced the 
resolution. The mover, rising to reply, inquired if it could be possi- 
ble that the objector to such a resolution was Dr. Cox, of New York, 
an early abolitionist, who had even been mobbed for his bold senti- 
ments. Dr. Cox eloquently answered that it was indeed the per- 

112 










^^^^^ -tfi C<^yC t 



REV. SAMUEL HANSON COX. D. D. 

secuted Dr. Cox of a former day, but one who, by the blessing of 
God, had been delivered from the blindness of fanaticism, and who 
was proud to stand forth to denounce a resolution which would shut 
out from their fellowship such a noble body of Christians as the peo- 
ple of the Southern states of America. The resolution was promptly 
voted down. On his return, Dr. Cox was wrecked on board the 
steamship Great Britain. An affection of the throat rendered it 
necessary that he should leave Brooklyn. On the last Sabbath of 
April, 1854, he preached his farewell sermon and retired to Oswego, 
his people having been very generous in their provision for him. 

In April, 1817, Dr. Cox married the daughter of Rev. Aaron 
Cleveland, of Connecticut, by whom he has had six sons and nine 
daughters, two sons and four daughters being dead. One of these 
sons is the distinguished Episcopal prelate, the Eight Rev. A. Cleve- 
land Coxe, Bishop of the Western diocese of the State of New York. 
Dr. Cox has married a second time. At the age of thirty-two he re- 
ceived the degree of D. D. from Williams College. He wrote a 
letter to the New York Observer, under date of November 16th, 
1825, declining the title. 

Dr. Cox took an active part in the inauguration of the abolition 
movement. On one occasion he preached a sermon in which he 
sought to allay the prejudice against the blacks, and stated that 
Christ was not a white man, but of the yellow Syrian hue. This re- 
mark was unfortunate, for it was shortly after asserted that he had 
stated that Christ was a negro. The following is a correct account 
of the riot of 1834, in New York, during which Dr. Cox's house and 
church were mobbed. 

"It continued through Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night, increasing in 
intensity with its progress. On Wednesday night, beside Mr. Lewis Tappan's 
house, Chatham street chapel was mobbed, and also the Bowery theatre, because of 
an English actor by the name of Farren, who had said something offensive to Ameri- 
can nationality. On Thursday night Dr. Cox's house and church were mobbed, 
and Zion Church, occupied by a colored congregation. On Friday Dr. Cox's church 
was 'finished,' his house saved only by a strong military force who barricaded the 
streets; the church ol the Rev. Mr. Ludlow sacked, and the windows and doors of 
his house demolished, and dwelling-houses torn down and emptied which accommo- 
dated nearly fifty colored families. On Saturday night it was planned to destroy all 
the free Presbyteriau churches, the offices of the obnoxious papers, and the houses 
of ministers and editors, for it should be understood that hatred of the anti-slavery 
party was not the only propulsion of the mob. It included hatred of Christianity, 
of temperance, and of all moral reforms. The free Presbyterian church system was 
making itself too manifestly felt by its aggressive movements, and must be over- 
thrown by violence. But by this time magistrates and property-holders, of whatever 

113 



REV. SAMUEL HANSON" COX, D. D. 

sentiment, had become thoroughly alarmed, troops were ordered out in large num- 
bers, and efficient measures taken to preserve the peace of the city, which proved 
successful. 

"In Mr. Tappan's house, adjoining the Friends' Meeting-house, in Eose street, 
mirrors were broken, much of the furniture piled in the street and partially burned, 
parlors, bedrooms, and closets desolated, indeed, every room, except one small 
apartment where Mr. Tappan kept his anti-slavery documents, papers, and books, 
which was left unmolested. Mr. Tappan sent his family into the country and slept 
in his store. And there stood his home for weeks unrepaired, visited by tens of 
thousands, preaching its silent sermon. Dr. Cox's house suffered less than Mr. 
Tappan's. His windows were broken and his parlor strewn with stones, but his 
family escaped uninjured, and he himself passed out through the crowd without mo- 
lestation, receiving only a sprinkling of dust and insulting language. Several of his 
friends had mingled in the mob, and by ingenuity restrained them. Dr. Cox and 
his family soon went out of the city, and removed before long to Auburn, in ac- 
cordance with the advice of friends. " 

As has been mentioned. Dr. Cox announced himself before the 
Evangelical Alliance as no longer an abolitionist, and during the 
agitation in regard to the compromise measures of 1S50 he came out 
in favor of them. He also became vice-president of the Southern 
Aid Society. His views became radical again during the late war. 

As a strong New Scbool Presbyterian, Dr. Cox was prominent in 
the agitation of 1837, which was followed by the division of the 
church into the old and new-school bodies. He has also been a lead- 
ing promoter of the Evangelical Alliance, a distinguished professor 
in a theological seminary, a noted lecturer upon sacred history, and 
very active in the temperance, colonization, anti-slavery, and com- 
promise movements. He mentions that an old Quaker once said to 
him — " Samuel, thy mind is too active. If thee wants peace, I can 
tell thee how to find it. Get still, get still, and thee shall come to 
know the hidden wisdom in the quiet of the flesh. I tell thee, my 
dear young friend, get still." 

Professor Henry Fowler gives the following excellent description 
of the subject of our notice : 

" Dr. Cox is a man of waim sensibilities, ardent zeal, and great 
industry, and he is also a man of marked peculiarities of style and 
manner. He is one of those speakers whom to hear once is to know 
thoroughly. He displays himself frankly and unreservedly. The 
characteristics are so striking that one sees them at a glance, and 
would recognize them robed and turbaned in the deserts of Sahara. 
His manner is earnest and forcible, indeed, somewhat impetuous. 
He is faithful in probing the conscience, and affecting in his appeals. 
He manifests deep solicitude in his preaching, and there is a 

114 



REV. SAMUEL HANSON COX, T>. D. 

sincerity and ardor in his whole manner which touches the heart 
He is vigorous in the thought and forcible in its presentation, 
and he always commands attention, not less by fervor of deliv- 
ery than by exuberance of language and peculiar redundancy of re- 
markable words. He surpasses all in the outpourings of sentences 
and in the abundance of quotations. His memory is wonderful, and 
he uses it without reserve. His quotations, though so profuse, are 
accurate and remarkably appropriate, but he lacks logical order or 
system of any kind, digressing, episoding, and returning upon his 
steps without law or method. " 

Many anecdotes are related showing his peculiarities. On one 
occasion he was preaching on the text relating to the woman " who 
had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of 
many physicians. " Branching from his main topic to the subject of 
physicians, he devoted the remainder of the discourse to a discussion 
of the merits and demerits of the medical profession. His memory 
is so remarkable, that we have heard him deliver a historical lecture 
of two hours with scarcely a reference to his manuscript. His quota- 
tions, chiefly from the classics, are constant, both in his public ad- 
dresses and conversation. 

In appearance he is a fine, stately old gentleman, with a large, 
round, well-developed head, adorned with silver-gray hair. He 
preaches occasionally in New York and Brooklyn, but resides in 
another part of the State. 

115 



RIGHT REV. A. CLEVELAND COXE, 

BISHOP OF WESTERiV NEW YORK!, LATE REC- 
TOR, OF CALVARY EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 
NEW YORK. 




IGHT EEV. BISHOP A. CLEVELAND COXE, D. D., 
son of the Rev. Dr. Samuel H. Cox, the distinguished 
Presbyterian clergyman, was born at Mendham, N. J., 
May 10th, 1818. He was graduated with high honors at 
New York University, in 1838, and was ordained deacon 
in June, 1841. At a veiy early age he gave evidence of a rare 
literary ability, and during his minority published various poetic ef- 
fusions, which attracted much attention. When twelve years old he 
composed a poem which is still in use, an 1 at nineteen published his 
first volume, a poem entitled, " Advent, a Mystery." These were 
followed by "Athwold, a Romaunt;" "St. Jonathan, the Lay of a 
Scald;" 1 and "Christian Ballads." In 1840, he delivered before 
Washington College, a poem entitled, " Athanasian," which added 
very much to his reputation. A dramatic poem entitled, " Saul, a 
Mj-stery," was published in 1845. He commenced his ministrations 
in 1841, at St Ann's Church, Morrisania, where he became rector 
of Christ Church, goiug subsequently, to Christ Church, Hartford, 
and, in 1854, accepted a call to Grace Church, Baltimore. In 1855, 
he visited Europe, and was the first American clergyman received 
into full communion of the Church of England. During his travels 
he contributed to the Churchman, the Episcopal journal published in 
New York, a series of letters entitled, "Impressions of England." 
Other contributions appeared in both the English and American 
periodicals. 

He continued as rector of Grace Church, Baltimore, until the 
breaking out of the war disturbed his before happy association with 
his congregation. As a Northern man, though of conservative ten- 
dencies, he could not enter into their sympathies with the South or 
agree with them on the merits of the issue. He was universally re- 

116 



EIGHT KEV. A. CLEVELAND COXE. 

spected and beloved, but the sad conviction was forced upon him 
that the period of his usefulness in the parish was at an end. A like 
condition of matters prevailed in Calvary parish, New York, where 
Rev. Dr. Hawks, a Southern man, found himself in some antagonism 
with his parishioners on the war question. Happily for the peace of 
the church and the advantage of religion, the difficulty in each in- 
stance was settled in a way satisfactory to all parties. Dr. Hawks 
resigned, and accepted a call to Grace Church, and Dr. Coxe was 
called to Calvary. He commenced to officiate during the winter of 
1863. Here he remained until elected Bishop of the Western Dio- 
cese of New York. His residence is now in Buffalo. Recently he 
has been again in Europe, where he is always received with much 
distinction. In the fall of 1872, he went to the island of Hayti, to 
found there an Episcopal Mission. 

Dr. Coxe is known among his professional brethren as the "Pam- 
phleteer." He has entered largely into the discussion of the different 
questions which have agitated the church from time to time. While 
his direction of thought is so eminently poetic, still he has won distinc- 
tion in the field of polemics. A letter written by him and pub- 
lished, relating to the calling of the Ecumenical Council by the Pope, 
attracted considerable attention. 

Dr. Coxe is a poet of far more than ordinary merit, though he 
rather apologizes for the exercise of his talents in this form, by speak- 
ing of it as merely " an occasional amusement/' "I strove to vary 
the odd hours," he says, in regard to the composition of one of his 
poems, " which I was able to steal from severer occupations for the 
refreshing cultivation of the muse, in such wise that even they might 
not be lost to Christian meditation." We quote a piece which occurs 
in his poem of " Saul, a Mystery." 

EVENING HYMN. 
At all times will I praise thee, Lord, 

My song shall be of thee, 
"When morning's earliest lark hath soared, 

Or sunset tints the sea ; 
Come magnify with me the power, 

And strike the warbling string ; 
So always, at the vesper hour, 

Together let us sing. 

Oh, taste and see that he is good, 

For blest the man shall be, 
Whose trust in evil hour hath stood, 

Unshaken, Lord, in thee ; 
117 



EIGHT REV. A. CLEVELAND COXE. 

Thine angel walks bright sentinel, 

Encamp'd our tents around, 
And half the heavenly armies dwell, 

Where'er the just are found. 

I will lay me down and sleep, 

And wake alike secure ; 
Thy judgments are a mighty deep, 

And all thy ways are pure ; 
And therefore as beneath thy wings, 

My soul in peace shall hide, 
And glory to thy myst'ry sings 

This holy eventide. 

Bishop Coxe is of the average height, erect and active. His head 
is round, with a high intellectual forehead. He has dark hair, to 
which his fair complexion is in marked contrast. Altogether his 
well-moulded features, bis evident intellectuality, and his amiable 
expression, make his face one not easily forgotten. His manners are 
high-toned, having a well preserved dignity mingled with a great 
deal of gentlemanly courtesy. 

His sermons are the compositions of a man always under poetic 
inspiration. To him all divine things and all human things, pervaded 
by an attribute of goodness, are poetry. They exist to his conception 
in imagery of beauty, constantly appealing to his enthusiam, his 
genius, and his piety. Hence, all his impressions are aglow with fer- 
vor, and his eloquence glitters with poetic gems. His style does not 
by any means come under the denomination of flowery, its peculiar- 
ity consisting in gorgeousness and gracefulness of thought. He is 
argumentative to some extent, and fertile of illustrations, but the 
charm and his greatest power is in passages of fascinating diction. 
His voice is strong without being loud, and his tone is agreeable with- 
out being exactly harmonious. His gestures are few and simple, but 
very expressive. He begins in a rather elevated, quick voice, which 
gradually falls into more natural and pleasant intonations. The ser- 
mons are clear to the dullest understanding. The reasoning is forci- 
ble ; there is no hesitancy in the delivery, and no cessation in the 
abundant flow of finely culled language. 

Bishop Coxe is a man of great force and usefulness in his ecclesi- 
astical position. Adorning it with rare talents and admired virtues 
he is most efficient in its practical duties. Consequently, his success 
has been great, and his fame is widespread both at home and abroad. 

He stands ever foremost to battle for the doctrines of his church, 
while he kneels ever meekest among the worshipers at her altars. 

118 




GQE^a K1®WAC3® GISOSIBV. ®=® t 



REV. HOWARD CKOSBY, D. D., 

PASTOR OE rOURTH AYENTJE PRESBYTERIAN 

CHURCH, NEW YORK!, AND CHANCELLOR 

OF THE NEW YORK UNIVERSITY. 




)EV. DR. HOWARD CROSBY was born in New York, 
Feb. 27th, 1826. He was graduated at the New York 
University in 1844, and pursued a theological course 
privately. In 1859 he became professor of Greek in the 
New York University, and in 1861 professor of the same lan- 
guage in Rutgers College, New Brunswick. He was ordained 
a minister of the Presbyterian Church by the Presbytery of New 
Brunswick in 1861, and added the pastorship of the First Presby- 
terian Church to his duties at the college. In March, 1863, he 
became pastor of the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New 
York, formerly the Bleeker Street Church. The pastors of this 
church have been three besides Dr. Crosby — viz: Rev. Mathias 
Bruen, Rev. Erskine Mason, D. D., Rev. Joel Parker, D. D. Dr. 
Crosby received the degree of D. D. from Harvard University in 
1859. He published, in 1850. a book of Oriental travel, entitled 
"Lands of the Moslem ; " in 1851, an edition of one of the plays of 
Sophocles; and in 1863, his "Commentary of the New Testament." 
He has been a constant contributor for thirty years to the leading 
reviews and periodicals and the religious press, and has issued 
numerous pamphlets on theological, classical, and educational sub- 
jects. In 1870 he was elected Chancellor of the University of the 
City of New York, to succeed the Rev. Dr. Isaac Ferris. He was 
Moderator of the General Assembly, at Baltimore, in 1873. 

The following is a glowing passage from the " Lands of the 
Moslem," descriptive of the author's approach to Jerusalem : 

"The convent of Mar Elyas was before us, placed where the monks say the 
prophet rested on his way to Beersheba, and where they pretend to show the mark 
left by his sleeping body in the rock. We gazed anxiously upon its white walls, and 
urged our horses up the hill side ; but it was not the shining convent that gave us 
energy and sent the thrill of eager expectations through our veins ; but we knew 
from that monastic height the eye might rest upon Jerusalem. The intensity of 

119 



REV. HOWARD CROSBY, D. D. 

hope rendered us speechless as we hastened along the stony path ; joy and awe were 
alike accumulating in our hearts as we neared its summit. The past and the present 
were equally unheeded, for our whole thoughts were centered on the future prospect. 
Onward, with increasing zeal we vied in the ascent. The point was gained, and 
the Holy City lay fair and. peaceful before our enraptured eyes. Not in the wild 
forest of the western world, not among the huge wrecks of Egyptian art, not on 
the snow-clad peaks of romantic Switzerland, had any scene so riveted our gaze. 
The drapery of nature in the land of the setting sun was richer far. The halls of 
the Karnac had published the highest triumph of the human powers, and Alpine 
ranges had yielded far nobler spectacles of earth's magnificence ; yet here were all 
surpassed, for heaven threw its schechinah upon the scene, and clothed the hill of 
Zion with a robe of glory. The sweetest memories hovered like fairest angels over 
the towers of Salem. Past, present, and future, all concentred on the oracle of 
God. There is Zion, the home of the psalmist-monarch ; there Moriah, the mount 
of Israel's God ; and yonder, green with its appropriate foliage, and graceful as a 
heavenly height, is mild and holy Olivet. They rise as beacons to the wearied 
soul, and all are bathed in the radiance of the Cross. The scene was grand, un- 
speakably. Our overflowing hearts sent forth their swollen streams of feeling in 
rejoicing. We looked back upon Bethlehem — there was the cradle; we turned 
to Calvary — there was the grave. Between these two had heaven and earth been 
reconciled. We paused awhile to drink deep of this first draught, and then spurred 
on to reach the city." 

Dr. Crosby is above the average height, and well proportioned. 
His head is rather long than broad, and straight, black and gray hair 
is combed from an intellectual brow. He has a calm, searching 
glance, but his expression is most kindly. In conversation his face 
becomes animated, but at other times it has a serious, reflective 
repose. His manners are extremely cordial. He exhibits a true 
gentlemanly dignity fitting to his position, and nothing beyond. 

Dr. Crosby is a man of varied and profound learning. His na- 
tural quickness of intellect and indomitable perseverance have led 
him along the channels of erudition until he has attained a thorough- 
ness and comprehensiveness of scholarship which is fully recognized 
by the savans of America and Europe. As a professor of Greek he 
was a most successful teacher, and his attainments in this particular 
branch of study are of the first order. Joined with the extended 
scope of his investigations, he has had the advantage of travel in 
foreign lands. The ardor with which he has pursued his far wander- 
ings is fully shown in the "Lands of the Moslem." Nothing of 
interest in his way seems to have escaped him, and his descriptions 
of character and paintings of scenery are eloquently beautiful, while 
acknowledged by other travelers to be entirely accurate. 

Dr. Crosby belongs to the most valuable class of living scholars. 

He is neither of the juvenile nor the hoary-headed. He occupies 

120 



REV. HOWARD CROSBY, D. D. 

that middle and safer ground of learning, when the energies are un- 
relaxed by reason of inordinate conceit, and the mind is unfettered 
by the pedantry of age. He has not been made a drone in the great 
hive of intellectual progress by the position and advancements 
growing out of success in early life, nor does he sit gorged 
with triumphs, and egotistical from these crowding honors. On the 
contrary, he finds that he has work to do. He belongs to the work- 
ers, and not to the idlers, egotists, and dreamers. He is a part of the 
vast power of mind which is bearing his century to the most glorious 
page of all history. With the prospect of many useful years before 
him, energetic in the prosecution of all that he undertakes, and en- 
thusiastic in developing the resources of intelligence, he can but be 
a most efficient laborer in the cause of knowledge. 

Dr. Crosby is an agreeable, interesting preacher. The observer 
is at once struck with his entire want of display in both matter and 
manner. He announces his text twice, and looks steadily at his 
congregation until he is seemingly satisfied that they comprehend it 
Without any trouble about fine writing and brilliant oratory, he 
reaches the argument which he desires to present. While his lan- 
guage is well selected, and used with the skill of a professional 
writer, there is no effort to cull especially eloquent and poetic phrases ; 
and, as to his declamation, while it is vigorous, there is no attempt 
to parade oratorical graces. In truth, he is a plain, practical reasoner. 
His power is in systematic argument, in the irrefutable maxims of 
logic, and in Christian zeal. His congregation certainly enjoy a great 
advantage from his preaching, as regards the particular and learned 
elucidation of the true translation and meaning of the Scriptures. 
Being a trained classical scholar and an accepted commentator, his 
sermons are very rich in information in these particulars. At times 
he is considerably animated. Absorbed in his theme, and moved 
by the force of the reasoning, his voice rises, and he gesticulates 
with some vehemence, soon falling back, however, to the calm 
course of his argument. 

From our statement it will be seen that the New York pulpit 
gained an important acquisition in Dr. Crosby. He is fully con- 
scious of the enlarged claims now made upon those qualifications 
which have received gratifying recognition in other fields, and he is 
not the man to fall short of public expectation, or to measure his 
energies by anything save the attainment of success. 

121 



BISHOP GEORGE D. CUMMINS, D.D, 

OF THE REFORMED EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



ISHOP GEORGE D. CUMMINS, D. D, of the Re- 
formed Episcopal Church, was born in Delaware, De- 
<0 j=£jM cember 11th, 1822. His early religious associations were 
^Q§ w ith the Methodists. In 1841 he was graduated at 
Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa. He was ordained a deacon 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church, by Bishop Lee of Del- 
aware, in October, 1815, and priest, by the same bishop, in 
July, 1817. He subsequently had charge of Christ Church, Norfolk, 
Ya. ; St James', Eichmond ; Trinity, Washington, D. C. ; St. John's, 
Baltimore ; and Trinity, Chicago. While rector of the last-named, he 
was elected Assistant Bishop of Kentucky, and received consecra- 
tion at Christ Church, Louisville, November 15th, 1866. The degree 
of D. D. was conferred on him by Princeton College in 1850. 

His low church views were very decided, and he took occasion to 
censure the ritualistic tendency and proceedings of some of the 
churches in the See of Kentucky. At the time of the meeting of the 
Evangelical Alliance in New York, in 1873, he was present, and 
took ecclesiastical action, which occasioned much discussion within 
the Episcopal denomination. Soon after he withdrew from his re- 
lations to the Protestant Episcopal Church, and originated a new 
body, which is known as the Reformed Episcopal Church. The first 
General Council convened in the city of New York, December 2d, 
1873, where all the necessary steps were taken for the efficient organ, 
ization of the new denomination. Later the Rev. Charles E. Cheney, 
of Chicago, was consecrated one of the bishops. Services were held 
in New York, and in other cities by Bishop Cummins. At the second 
General Council, which convened in New York in May, 1874, and 
of which Bishop Cummins was elected President, the following 
clerical delegates were present : — Bishop George D. Cummins, Bishop 

122 



BISHOP GEORGE D. CUMMINS, D. D. 

Charles E. Cheney, the Eev. Messrs. R H. Bourne, W. Y. Feltwell, 
Mason Gallagher, B. B. Leacock, T. J. McFadden, Wm. McGuire, 
Johnston McCormack, Edward D. Neill, W. H. Keid, W. T. Sabine, 
Marshall B. Smith, Thompson L. Smith, Charles H. Tucker, J. D. 
Wilson, and Walter Windejer. The churches represented were as 
follows : — First Keformed Episcopal Church, New York ; Church of 
the Incarnation, Brooklyn; Christ Church, Chicago; Emmanuel 
Church, Chicago ; Christ Church, Peoria, 111. ; First and Second Ke- 
formed Episcopal Churches, Philadelphia ; Christ Church, Moncton, 
N. B. ; Church of the Eock of Ages, Littleton, Col. ; and the Ke- 
formed Episcopal Churches of Washington, D. C. ; Ottawa, Canada, 
and Aurora, 111. 

The Keformed church adheres to Episcopacy as a desirable form 
of congregational government, but not in obedience to divine edict. 
In all respects the Bible is made the sole basis of its doctrines and 
practices. What are considered doctrinal errors in the Episcopal 
belief, and especially ritualism in all its forms, are opposed by the 
members of the Reformed Episcopal church. Its constitution and 
canons, after learned discussion, were adopted by the second General 
Council. A new Prayer Book was also discussed and adopted. 
Overtures for affiliation having been accepted from the English Free 
Church, clerical and lay delegates, including Bishop Cummins among 
the former, were appointed to a meeting of that denomination. 

Bishop Cummins is an erect, clerical looking gentleman, of pleas- 
ing manners and address. His head is intellectual, and the expres- 
sion of his face is cheerful and amiable. He is prudent and con- 
sistent in all his walks, and seeks to make not only his teachings, 
but his example a source of benefit to his fellow-men. As a preacher 
he is earnest and devout. Assured in faith, he preaches it with the 
grasp of a learned mind and a fervent heart. His action in retiring 
from his functions in the Episcopal church was conscientious and 
courageous, and in upholding the church which he has founded, he 
will, without doubt, give to it a zeal and piety which all men must 
respect 

123 



REV. THEODORE L. CUYIER, D.D., 

PASTOR OE THE LAFAYETTE AVENUE PBES- 
BYTEKIAN CHURCH, BROOHXYN. 




>EV. DR. THEODORE L. CUYLER, pastor of the La- 
fayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, is a man 
of marked characteristics of talent and energy. He is 
Ipr^ ' the son of a lawyer, long since deceased, and was born 
^sQP at Aurora, New York, January 10th, 1822. He was graduated 
at Princeton College in 1811, his nineteenth year, and passed 
the following year in Europe. He amused himself while abroad with 
writing, for publication at home, sketches of travel and distinguished 
men. He was already an enthusiastic temperance reformer, and at 
Glasgow he addressed the citizens at the City Hall, on the occasion 
of the reception of Father Matthew. Returning to the United 
States, he entered Princeton Theological Seminary in 1843, and was 
graduated in May, 1816. After preaching for a short period at a 
small place in the Wyoming Valley, in the autumn of 1816, he 
accepted a call to the Presbyterian Church at Burlington, New 
Jersey,. and three years later, founded a new congregation at Trenton. 
In May, 1853, he accepted a call to the new Shawmut Congregational 
Church, Boston, but the state of his health and other reasons induced 
him subsequently to decline it in favor of a call to the Market Street 
Reformed Dutch Church, New York. This pulpit had been for 
many years under the charge of Rev. Dr. Isaac Fen-is, then 
Chancellor of the University of the City of New York In 
April, 1860, Dr. Cuyler became the first pastor of the Lafayette 
Avenue Presbyterian Church, now one of the largest and most in- 
fluential congregations of Brooklyn. The present edifice, dedicated 
in 1862, is a splendid stone structure, in a select and commanding 
location, and, with the exception of the Rev. Mr. Beecher's, will seat 
more people than any church in the city. 

There are fifteen hundred and seventy-five members. It is not 

124 



m 




Wmm^wmW'M: 




Etl g d t7AHBltcW- e " 



ft 





^r\ 



REV. THEODORE L. CUYLER, D. D. 

only the largest church in membership in the denomination, but it 
is the largest Presbyterian church edifice that has yet existed in 
America. It is thirteen years since Dr. Cuyler was installed as 
pastor, and the congregation is larger than Mr. Beecher's church 
was at the end of his first thirteen years. 

Dr. Cuyler received his degree of D.D. from Princeton College. 
He is a graphic and fluent writer. He has published about sixteen 
hundred articles in religious papers and magazines ; of all these com- 
bined about fifty millions of copies have been issued. They have 
been widely circulated in Europe. Nearly three hundred articles 
have been written for the Independent alone. A volume, entitled 
" Stray Arrows," contains a portion of his articles contributed to 
newspapers. He is the author of two very celebrated temperance 
tracts, entitled "Somebody's Son," and "His Own Daughter," the 
former of which had a circulation of one hundred thousand copies. 
Among the papers to which he has contributed may be mentioned 
the Christian Intelligencer, Independent, and Evangelist. His articles 
are pervaded by a genial Christian tone, which has attracted to 
them a wide attention. 

He has published a number of books. Pour of these, " Cedar 
Christian," "Heart-Life," "Empty Crib," and "Thought-Hives.'' 
have been reprinted in England. 

He delivers in the course of a year probably one hundred ad- 
dresses, besides his sermons. Of the latter he usually preaches two 
on each Sabbath, and takes an active part in the weekly meetings. 

Dr. Cuyler is somewhat above the ordinary stature, erect, and ex- 
tremely active. His head is more long than round, with regular 
features, and bold, restless, searching eyes. He has straight black 
hair, and side whiskers. A distinguished phrenologist says of him : 
" The countenance exhibits a strong mental temperament. The vital 
forces are scarcely sufficient to meet the constant demand of an over- 
active brain. From early youth Dr. Cuyler has shown an ardor and 
enterprise in his calling rarely equaled. In the earnestness of his 
efforts he has strained every nerve, mental and physical, and thus 
kept his vital forces much below par. Large language is indicated 
in the eyes ; strong perceptive power in the projecting eyebrows ; 
large mirthfulness and ideality impart taste, imagination, and brilliancy 
to his style. Order is large ; so with constructiveness. Among the 
intellectual faculties Comparison is doubtless the most influential. 
He has a fine moral development, which is broad rather than high 

125 



BEV. THEODORE L. CUYLEE, D. D. 

His is a working piety — that which exhibits itself in practical life 
and is known by its fruits." 

Dr. Cuyler is very correctly described in the following extract : 

" He mingles freely and happily with his people. His feelings are solid and 
sympathetic, his conversation is fluent and interspersed with illustration, anecdote, 
lively metaphor, and felicitous quotation; his manner natural, candid and frank; his 
tone of voice at once full, encouraging, and also gentle; so that he unites the gifts 
which elicit friendly feeling, promote freedom of social intercourse, and bind a 
pastor to his people by the innumerable threads of friendly intercourse, rather than 
by the one cable of profound and distant reverence. Hence he combines in an un- 
usual degree success in pastoral labor with success in preaching. He teaches his 
people quite as much out of the pulpit as in it. He seeks to make his church an 
organized band who 'go about doing good,' in working sympathy with the poor and 
outcast. He also diffuses a zeal, 'lengthening the cords and strengthening the 
stakes ' of their own influence. Dr. Cuyler is accessible both in the parlor and in 
the pulpit. One is sure of hospitality at church as well as at home." 

Dr. Cuyler's style as a preacher is peculiar and impressive. Calm- 
ly looking over his congregation, he utters his text in a deliberate, 
solemn tone, and pauses for it to have due effect Usually his texts 
are a few graphic words, such as " What wilt thou? " " Stand there- 
fore," " Fray without ceasing," " What think ye of Christ ? " Hav- 
ing fixed every eye and startled, as it were, every heart, he now pro- 
ceeds with his sermon. It is full of graphic utterances, powerful 
illustrations, and eloquent appeals. His voice is defective in mellow- 
ness, but the words are so striking and well chosen that the tone does 
not seem other than pleasant to the ear. By turns he is earnest and 
emphatic, and then subdued and pathetic ; sometimes he indulges in 
brilliant passages of description and narrative, and then in ringing 
sentences of invective against human error. Probably there is no 
preacher who can more readily inspire the multitude. 

Something of his style may be understood by the closing portion 
of a sermon on "The True Spirit: " 

" My friends of three-score-and-ten ! The clock of our existence is nearly worn 
out. The wheels have grown rusty. The springs are corroded. Brush off the dust 
from its face and you will see that the hands point almost to midnight. Your course 
is nearly run. The time is short ! Prepare to meet thy God ! Give thy heart and 
hopes and thoughts to Christ. And what thou doest do quickly ! Before to-morrow 
morning thy clock may stop forever." 

During Dr. Cuyler's public ministiy he has received two 
thousand seven hundred and eighty persons into church fellowship, 
of whom fourteen hundred have united on profession of faith. His 
labors in the cause of temperance and other moral reforms have been 

12(j 



REV. THEODORE L. CUTLER, D. D. 

constant and enthusiastic. His writings and speeches have shown 
earnestness and good nature as well, and greatly appealed to popular 
favor. 

In the summer of 1872 he returned from a visit to Europe. He 
went as a delegate to a Presbyterian assemblage in Edinburgh, Scot- 
land. During his stay in Scotland and England he received great 
attention from all classes of society, and had several informal meet- 
ings with Premier Gladstone, and other statesmen. 

He is a talented, energetic public man, filled with the progressive 
spirit of his day. He is stubborn in his opinions and stern in his 
principles ; but his nature is generous, and all his impulses are noble. 
Animated by a desire to do his part in the religious and moral eleva- 
tion of mankind, he has given his utmost talents and energies to the 
work, and already won for himself an unfading renown. 

127 



REY. WILLIAM C. DAWSON, 

PASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE DISCIPLES 
OF CHRIST, IVEW YORK. 




EV. WILLIAM C. DAWSON" was born in Scott county, 
Kentucky, July 23d, 1841. He is the son of the Eev. 
John D. Dawson, of the Church of Christ. He entered 
the Junior Class of the State University of Missouri, and 
at the age of nineteen, was appointed an adjunct Professor 
le Ancient Languages in that institution. On the breaking 
out of the war the University was necessarily closed. During 
the next three years Mr. Dawson was engaged in teaching and 
preaching in Pike county, Missouri, having been ordained to the 
ministry. In 1864 he entered Bethany College, in West Yirginia, 
where he was graduated in the following year. He then took charge 
of the Clmrch of the Disciples at Decatur, Illinois, remaining two 
years. After this he passed two years as pastor of the church at 
Lexington, Missouri, and three years in charge of the Second Church 
of the Disciples at Louisville, Kentucky. In October, 1872, he was 
installed as the pastor of the Church of the Disciples of Christ, wor- 
shiping in West Twenty-eight street, New York. For a number of 
years this congregation occupied a building on West Seventeenth 
street, but, about 1863 or 1864, purchased the more modern and 
eligibly located structure now used by them. There are about two 
hundred and fifty members. 

The organization of Christians, to which Mr. Dawson belongs, is 
known by the designations of "Disciples of Christ," "Church of 
Christ," " Christians." and " Campbellites." It took its origin in the 
effort made many years since to effect a union of the Protestant de- 
nominations. "In the beginning of the present century," says a 
writer on the subject, " several religious movements for this purpose 
occurred in different parts of the United States, independently of 
each other, and without pre-concert. The one which gave immediate 
origin and distinctive character to the body now known as ' Disciples,' 

128 



REV. WILLIAM C. DAWSON. 

was initiated in 1809 by Thomas Campbell, a preacher of purity and 
distinction among the Seceders, aided by his son Alexander, to whose 
ability and energy its successful progress is mainly attributed, and by 
whom it has been chiefly directed. The original purpose was to heal, 
if possible, the divisions of religious society, and to develop and 
establish a common basis of Christian union. It was thought that 
these desirable objects could be attained by taking the Bible alone as 
a guide, and its express teachings as the only authoritative standard 
of faith and practice, allowing meanwhile entire liberty of opinion in 
relation to all matters not fully revealed. Upon these principles a 
considerable society was formed, consisting chiefly of members from 
Presbyterian churches, and meetings were held statedly for the pro- 
motion of the cause of the union and for religious worship and in- 
struction. After some time the question of infant baptism, and, as 
connected with it, the use of sprinkling as baptism, became matters 
of investigation in the society, and it was finally, after some months, 
decided by a large majority that there was no Scripture warrant for 
either practice, and that consequently, upon their own principles, they 
were compelled to renounce them. Becoming then a society of 
universal believers, they soon after united with the Bedstone Baptist 
Association, stipulating, however, in writing, that no standard of 
doctrine or bond of Christian union, or other than the Holy Scrip- 
tures, should be required. By means of this union with the Baptists, 
the principles and views of the 'Disciples,' ably developed and de- 
fended by Alexander Campbell in his writings and public discussions, 
were widely disseminated and adopted by many." 

After a time other features of primitive Christianity were intro- 
duced, such as "baptism for the remission of sins," and the practice 
of partaking of the Lord's Supper on every Sabbath. "In pressing 
these matters upon the acceptance of the Baptists," says the writer 
before quoted, " a spirit of opposition was at length aroused in various 
quarters, especially in Virginia and Kentucky, and a separation, to 
some extent, ensued, many of the Baptists remaining connected with 
the Disciples. Not long afterward, at the close of 1831, their 
members were still further augmented by a union between them, and 
a numerous body which had originated in Kentucky, and some other 
Western States under the labors of B. W. Stone, and others, who, 
some years prior to the movement, led by Thomas and Alexander 
Campbell, had separated from the Presbyterian communion, and, in 
like manner, attempted to effect a union of Christians upon the Bible 

129 



REV. WILLIAM C. DAWSON. 

alone. These reformers readily adopted baptism for a remission of 
sins and the ancient order of things as practiced by the Disciples, and 
became assimilated with the latter. Since this period there has been 
a great and constantly increasing accession both from the world and 
other religious denominations, and it is believel that the number of 
members in the United States is now about 300,000. Thei-e are 
many churches also established in British America, in Great Britain, 
and in Australia. Although the Disciples reject creeds as a bond 
of fellowship, and disprove of the technical language of popular 
theology, holding themselves bound to speak of the things of the 
Spirit in the language of Scripture, they do not materially differ 
from the evangelical denominations in their views of the great matters 
of Christianity. " 

Alexander Campbell, the chief originator of this sect, died a few 
years since. At the time he was president of a college, which he 
founded in 1841 at Bethany, "West Virginia, and editor of the leading 
paper of the denomination, called the Millenium Harbinger. He 
was born in 1792, and originally held to the Presbj^terian faith, from 
which he withdrew in 1812, and received baptism by immersion in 
the same. In 1827 he was likewise excluded from the fellowship 
of the Baptists. He was a man of great ability, and a bold defender 
of the particular belief of his reformed sect. 

The Disciples have flourished greatest in the West and South- 
west Before the war the church numbered sixty thousand in the 
State of Kentucky, and was equally promising in Ohio, Indiana, 
Tennessee, and Virginia It has also considerable strength in West- 
ern New York, a very fine church having been built at Syracuse. 

The revision of the Bible by the American Bible Union is gener- 
ously sustained by this sect. They accept the new version as their 
authentic guide. 

Mr. Dawson is of the medium height, erect, and active. His hair 
is already quite gray, giving him an older look than usual in a man 
of his age. He has an intelligent, cheerful face, and his manners are 
frank and polite. As a pastor and preacher he excels in those 
characteristics which best serve the temporal and spiritual interests 
of a congregation. He is genial and devoted in all intercourse, and 
he preaches with the spirit of God in his heart. Thoroughly grounded 
in the principles of his own faith, and able as an expounder of the 
Scriptures, and as a teacher of morals, he exerts a most signal influ- 
ence in both his private and public duties. 

130 



REV. CHARLES F. DEEMS, D. D., 

PAJSTOR OE THE CHURCH OF THE STRA3V- 
GEB8, NEW YORK. 




>EV. CHAELES F. DEEMS was born in the city of 
Baltimore, December 4th, 1820, his father being a local 
preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He wfs 
graduated at Dickinson College, Pennsylvania, in 1839. 
Having been converted before he entered college, and feeling 
himself called to the Christian ministry, he was duly licensed 
to preach in the Methodist Church during his senior year. After 
graduation he passed a winter in New York, where he studied most 
of the time, and preached occasionally in the city churches. At the 
early age of twenty he was appointed General Agent of the American 
Bible Society, and selected North Carolina as his future field of labor. 
He labored with success in this agency until appointed Adjunct Pro- 
fessor to the chair of Logic and Rhetoric in the University of North 
Carolina. He filled this position acceptably for five years, when he 
accepted the chair of Natural Science in Randolph Macon College, 
Virginia, but did not deem it desirable to continue in this professor- 
ship longer than one year. Returning to North Carolina, he was 
stationed in Newbern the following jear ; and the next year was 
elected a delegate to the General Conference to be held in St. Louis. 
While in attendance at the General Conference, he was elected 
President of the Greensboro' Female College, in North Carolina, and 
for five years had charge of that institution. During this period he 
rendered a very important service to the conference and the church, 
by placing the college on a permanent basis of prosperity. In 1854 
he again returned to the regular work of the ministry, and was ap- 
pointed successively first to Goldsboro' and afterward to Front street 
church, Wilmington, in each of which places he remained two 
years. He was re-eiected to the General Conference, and at the same 
period President of the Centenary College, Louisiana, and either 
President or Professor of about eight other institutions. At the close 

131 



REV. CHARLES F. DEEMS, D. D. 

of his term of service in "Wilmington, he was appointed Presiding 
Elder of the Wilmington district A year later he was elected to the 
Professorship of History in the North Carolina University, bnt de- 
clined. While Presiding Elder he made a visit to Europe. The 
citizens of Wilson county, North Carolina, tendered to him directly 
as a gift a fine college building, only on condition that he would 
establish there a male and female school, which he at once proceeded 
to organize, continuing in the position of Presiding Elder. 

In December, 1865, Dr. Deems removed to the city of New York, 
where he soon after established a religious and literary weekly paper, 
called the The Watchman, which, however, was suspended. In 
July, 1866, he commenced preaching in the chapel of the University. 
This religious movement soon took the form of a new church 
organization, and services were regularly held The congregation 
became known as " The Church of the Strangers," being intended 
particularly for the benefit of the great number of persons who are 
temporarily in the city and desire to have a place for religious wor- 
ship. The gospel is preached without any special reference to any 
of the creeds, and there is no ecclesiastical connection of the con- 
gregation with any of the sects. Persons of all denominations are 
found in the congregation, and all are welcomed who desire to enjoy 
purely unsectarian worship. Such an organization as this is worthy 
of a city like New York, and well adapted to the character of its 
great transient population. It is a free church, sustained by the 
voluntary contributions of those who attend and of the wealthy 
Christian merchants. The attendance is already large, and it will, 
without doubt, become a numerous and important congregation. 

In 1870, through the liberality of Cornelius Vanderbilt, Esq., the 
congregation was enabled to secure the property belonging to the 
Mercer street Presbyterian Church. Commodore Vanderbilt gave 
fifty thousand dollars for the purpose. The edifice, a large and 
eligibly situated building was repaired, and the congregation now 
worship in it. The dedicatory exercises on the 2d, and also the 9th 
of October, 1870, were attended by a large number of the leading 
people of the city, showing that the work of Dr. Deems was most 
highly regarded 

Dr. Deems was invited to acceptthe presidency of a college in 
California, and also the same posij^OTi in a college in Georgia, He 
declined, however, being unwilling to give up the field in New 
York. 132 



REV. CHARLES F. DEEMS, D. D. 



In 1852, in his thirty-second year, Dr. Deems received his degree 
of D. D. from Eandolph Macon College ; one of the Virginia papers 
declaring him "the youngest D. D. in North America." He is the 
author of fourteen volumes of various works, and numerous published 
sermons. Among his works may be mentioned " The Home Altar," 
which was translated into French; "What Now? " a volume for 
young ladies ; " Annals of Southern Methodism," a valuable historical 
and statistical work ; and his recently issued volume, " Life of Jesus." 
A speech delivered by him on the trial of Dr. Smith, at Petersburg, 
in 1855, was pronounced to be a master-piece of forensic eloquence. 
An address on " The True Basis of Manhood," first delivered by in- 
vitation before the Literary Societies of Hampden Sidney College, 
Va., and since repeated on several occasions, shows the highest 
capabilities as a thinker and writer. 

Dr. Deems is under the medium height, sparely made, though 
compact and well-proportioned, and capable of performing an almost 
incredible amount of labor. He has a fair complexion, gray eyes, 
high forehead, and a feminine delicacy of feature. The intellectual 
development of his head is very striking, and his quick, beaming 
eyes are full of mental fire. He is of a nervous, impulsive tempera- 
ment, and, like all such men, is rapid in coming to his conclusions, 
and earnest and enthusiastic in carrying forward his plans. His de- 
portment is at all times characterized by a high-toned courtesy and a 
genial warmth, which give him great attractiveness in social life. Old 
and young are irresistibly drawn to him. He has fine conversational 
powers, and his natural talents, learning in ancient and modern 
literature, and extensive experience among all classes of his fellow- 
men, happily fit him for an instructive and fascinating companion. 

Dr. Deems is one of the most remarkable men in the American 
pulpit. He -commenced his public career at an extremely early age, 
and since that time he has always been employed in an energetic 
religious and educational work. His field of effort has been vast, 
and his toils have been little less than Herculean, but he has always 
seemed a master of every situation in which he has been placed. No 
considerations have ever influenced him except those relating to the 
public good, and the religious and intellectual elevation of his fellow 
beings. His time, talents, and means have all been prodigally given 
to the public interest, and with a degree of unselfishness which has 
been as noticable as the success which he has invariably achieved. 
As a writer and speaker, Dr. Deems has few equals. Composition 



REV. CHARLES F. DEEMS, D. D. 

and speaking are, in fact, natural talents with him. He has a vivid, 
spontaneous fancy, and at the same time his mind is naturally far- 
reaching, logical, and practical. Hence he is not only a thinker, but 
his thoughts weave themselves into the most chaste and beautiful 
form of language. He is impassioned even in argument; and there 
is in all that he writes and says the glow of earnest, sincere feeling. 
In his preaching there is a display of the finest powers of the natural 
orator and the thorough scholar. His thoughts are rapid, and they 
are all aglow with sentiment and emotion, while they have a positive- 
ness and interest which can only be imparted by extensive learning. 
His voice is smooth and silvery, and his gestures are well-timed and 
emphatic. 

Dr. Deems enjoyed great popularity in the South, and was 
esteemed one of the foremost theologians and public men in the 
Methodist church. His social gifts, his pre-eminent talents, and his 
devotion to his church, and all religious, moral, and educational 
enterprises, made for him warm hearts wherever he went He has 
now entered upon an equally important work in a new section, and 
among "strangers," with all his accustomed zeal, piety, and de- 
votedness. As he enjoys the confidence and aid of the generous 
and enlightened citizens of New York, he is likely to achieve the 
crowning success of his life. 

134 





-RKV. FRANK S.DEHASS, D.D. 
IWYOBK. COHERENCE. 



REY. FRANK S. DE HASS, D.D., 

PASTOB OF THE! 3L.£IX:IjVGT01V avenue meth. 
ODI8T CHURCH, NEW YORK!. 




>EY. DR. FRANK S. DE H ASS was born in "Washing- 
ton County, Pennsylvania, October 1st, 1823. The 
family was originally German, being known by the 
name of Yon Hass, and having three distinct branches, 
the year 1549, Baron Charles De Hass, the representative 
of one of the branches, removed to Strasburg, and, after 
the joining of the dukedom of Alsace to France, became the 
founder of the French noble family of that name. The arms of the 
city of Florence were awarded to him for his services in the conquest 
of Italy. Subsequently the family, who were Protestant, emigrated 
to Holland, and in 1772 some portion of them came to America, and 
settled in Pennsylvania. General Philip De Hass, of revolutionary 
memory, was an immediate ancestor of the subject of our notice. 

Dr. De Hass was graduated at Washington College, Pennsylva- 
nia, in 1839, and was licensed as a Methodist preacher in 1844. His 
first appointment was at Leesburg, Ohio, in July, in connection with 
the Pittsburg Conference. He was ordained deacon in 1846, and 
elder in 1848. In 1845, he was stationed at Murraysville, in Penn- 
sylvania ; in '46, Weston, Va. ; in '47 and '48, Wheeling ; in '49 and 
'50, agent of Alleghany College ; in '51 and '52, Wesley Chapel, 
Pittsburg; in '53 and '54, agent of Tract Society of Methodist 
Church ; in '55 and '56, Trinity Church, Pittsburg ; in '57 and '58, 
secretary of Tract Society ; in '59 and '60, Seventh street, New 
York; in '61 and '62, Washington street, Brooklyn. He was ap- 
pointed to the Pacific street Church, Brooklyn, in 1863 ; and, three 
years later, went to the Metropolitan Church, in Washington City, 
where he remained three years. Among the attendants of this church 
were President Grant, Yice-President Colfax, Chief Justice Chase, 
and various other distinguished individuals. Two years were then 
spent with Trinity Church, Cincinnati, and two subsequent years 

135 



REV. FRANK S. D E HASS, D. D. 

in travel in Europe, Egypt, and Palestine. In the Holy Land he 
secured a rare writing of the Book of Moses, found in a tomb, and 
supposed to date a thousand years before Christ. He Las made four 
voyages across the Atlantic. On April 1st, 1872, be was appointed 
to the Lexington Avenue Church, New York. He received his 
degree of D. D. from Michigan University, in 1870. 

Dr. De Hass enjoys- considerable reputation as an eloquent 
speaker. Various sermons at camp meetings are spoken of as grand 
in the extreme. On one occasion he chained the attention of some 
four thousand persons for one hour and twenty minutes. He attended 
the General Sunday School Convention, held in London, in 1852 ; and 
at one of the sessions made a speech of marked beauty and power. 
His publications are several sermons. He is engaged in the prepara- 
tion of a historical account of the planting of Methodism in the 
"Valley of the Mississippi. 

He has a well-proportioned figure, and fair hair and complexion. 
His face has a most amiable expression. The brow is round and 
high. His eyes are bright, and when he talks his countenance lights 
up with an intelligent animation. In his manners he is social and 
genial, while there is always to be observed a certain measure of 
well -conceived dignity. He is a man of strong feelings and very 
deep sensitiveness. You can no more breathe upon a looking-glass 
without leaving the evidence of it, than you can touch him without 
striking the impression into his heart. In fact, his nature in this 
respect has more of the sensitive delicacy of the woman than the 
callousness and indifference common to the man. Everything sinks 
down into the recesses of the heart, there to send forth rejoicing or 
sadness. Hence, as regards himself he is scrupulously considerate 
of every word and act, and it is to be seen that he is constantly and 
greatly affected by all that occurs about him. He has a peculiar 
tenderness of manners, and is cautious to give utterance to no 
wounding word. Of course, a nature like this must be rather 
tame, submissive, and negative. It does not show an original, de- 
cided, governing temperament, but it may not be the less pleasing, 
winning, and controlling. And thus it is with Dr. De Hass. You 
find him the type of the least conspicuous and impressive kind of 
men, and yet his simplicity, his sensitiveness, and his gentleness 
never fail to interest those who come in contact with him, and are 
the sources of his influence. 

His preaching shows the same characteristics. It is extem- 

136 



REV. FRANK S. DE HASS, D. D. 

poraneous, and, while simple and unpretending, is very emotional. 
His effort is not to make a showy discourse, but it is to give utter- 
ance to the heart's faith, hope, and love. The argument is not defi- 
cient in order or comprehensiveness, and it is frequently illustrated 
by effective and original similes. But this is the merest shadow of 
the power which springs from his mellow-toned words, his trembling 
lips, and sometimes glistening eyes. Sincere in the doctrines which 
he proclaims, filled with an ardent desire to impart them to others, 
and with a bosom overflowing with its sympathies and attachments, 
he speaks from, the heart and to the heart. He seems to be searching 
for this member, where it may nestle shrinking, saddened, and dead, 
that he may touch it with some quickening sense of courage, joy, 
and life. The preaching of Methodist ministers generally may be 
said to partake of this character. With Dr. De Hass, however, 
there is nothing of that high -wrought excitement, and that systema- 
tized pathos, so to speak, indulged in by so many of his ministerial 
associates. He discusses his subject with just sufficient animation 
to give force to his speaking, and his style of appeal to the feelings 
is as natural and unaffected as that of a mother to her babe. The 
inquirer- for truth finds that the limits which exist between the pub- 
lic speaker and the auditor are quickly changed to the closer com- 
munion of friend with friend. 



137 



REV. THOMAS DE WITT, D.D., 

SENIOR PASTOR OP THE COLLEGIATE RE- 
FORMED CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




>EV. DE. THOMAS DE WITT was bom at Kingston, 
Ulster County, New York, September 13th, 1791. He 
was graduated at Union College in June, 1808, and at the 
Theological Seminary of the Keformed Dutch Church at 
New Brunswick, being licensed for the ministry in June, 1812. 
first settlement and installation was over the churches of 
Hopewell and New Hackensack, Dutchess County, New York, in 
November of the same year. After a number of years spent in this 
position, he removed to the city of New York, and was installed as 
one of the ministers of the Collegiate Keformed Dutch Church, Sep- 
tember 16th, 1827, of which he is now the Senior Pastor. 

Rev. Dr. Chambers, also one of the pastors of the Collegiate 
Church, gives the following information regarding the Reformed 
Dutch Church of New York, commonly called Collegiate. " This," 
he says : "the mother church of the denomination in this country, is 
the oldest ecclesiastical organization in New York, having been found- 
ed previously to A. D. 1610. For more than a century and a half 
this was the only Dutch church in the city, and. as the population in- 
creased, it multiplied its pastors and houses of worship. Subsequently, 
when independent churches were organized, each under the charge of 
a single person, this one, because of its plurality of congregations and 
ministers, became popularly known as the Collegiate Church, although 
this title does not appear upon its record, and has no official authori- 
ty. The first minister was the Rev. Everardus Bogardus, who came 
over from Holland in the year 1633. He was followed by ten others in 
regular succession, who also came from Holland, and preached in the 
Dutch language. In the year 1764 the Rev. Archibald Laidlie was 
installed, with the express view of meeting the wants of those who 
required the service to be in English. All the ministers who suc- 
ceeded him preached in English only, except Dr. Livingston and the 

138 





Yt&S K/&> 



REV. THOMAS DE WITT, D. D. 

venerated Dr. Kuypers. The last sermon in Dutch was preached in 
1803. 

" The church of New York began its services in 1626, in an upper 
room, the spacious loft of a horse-mill, but after a few years erected 
a plain wooden building near what is now called Old Slip. In 1642 
a much larger edifice of stone was put up within the fort, which 
stood on the plot of ground which has long been known as the 
Battery. Fifty years afterwards, the congregation removed to a new 
edifice in Garden street (now Exchange Place), which had been built 
for their accommodation. This church, which, after being rebuilt of 
stone, in 1807, was destroyed in the great fire of December, 1836, 
was the first to receive a geographical designation. After a second 
place of worship had been erected in Nassau street, in 1729, and a 
third in William street, corner of Fulton, in 1769, the oldest building 
took the name of the South Church, the second that of the Middle, 
and the last erected that of the North, a name which it still retains, 
although it has been, for a number of years, the farthest south by a 
mile of all the Dutch churches on the island, the Middle having been 
relinquished for sacred purposes in the year 1844." 

There are eighteen congregations of the Reformed Dutch persuasion 
in New York. Of these the most influeutial and wealthy are those of 
the three Collegiate Churches. Their property is of large value, and the 
revenue, besides supporting four distinguished and efficient ministers, 
is also liberally devoted to city and others missions. In 1857, the 
Consistory emploj'ed Mr. J. C. Lanphier, a person of great Christian 
excellence, as a lay missionary in the down-town wards. In the 
autumn of that year, Mr. Lanphier originated the celebrated " Noon 
Prayer Meeting," still held daily in the Consistory Building of the 
North Church on Fulton street, " the results of which have resounded 
through the Christian world, and produced an impression which will 
never be erased from the minds of the present generation." 

Dr. De Witt has been some sixty years in the ministry, and forty- 
five in his present pastorate. He is not in active service now, from 
old age, though in the full possession of all his faculties and in good 
health. His name stands at the head of the roll of the graduates of 
the Theological Seminary of the Church. He is the only survivor 
of the five students with which Dr. Livingston opened the Seminary 
in October, 1810. Dr. De Witt has been prominent in all the pro- 
ceedings of the church during his long career. He declined the pro- 
fessorship of Oriental Literature and Ecclesiastical History in the 

139 



REV. THOMAS D E WITT, D. D. 

Seminary, but in the Board of Superintendents he has done faithful 
service. For more than thirty years he has been a trustee of 
Rutgers College, New Brunswick. He is likewise a trustee of 
Columbia College, New York, and from its early history he has been 
a member of the Council of the University of the city of New York. 
His name is recorded among the founders of the Board of Education 
of the Reformed ( Dutch ) Church, and a scholarship founded by his 
munificent gift bears the name and perpetuates the memory of a 
beloved son. He has been for }'ears the President of the Board of 
Publication, also of the Board of Foreign Missions ; of the American 
and Foreign Christian Union; of the New York City Tract Society; and 
Vice-President of the New York Historical Society. He received 
the degree of D. D. from Rutgers College, in 1828. His mastery of 
the Dutch language has made him extremely familiar with the his- 
tory and literature of his church. He has published various ser- 
mons, with one of which is included an authentic history of the 
Collegiate Dutch Church from its earliest period under the Dutch 
Colonial Government 

The following extract from a sermon, entitled "The Christian's 
Confidence in Committing his Soul into the Hands of the Redeemer," 
gives a very correct idea of Dr. De Witt's style : 

' ' We learn the fbeeness, as well as geeatness, of the salvation which is in Christ 
Jesus. 

"It is, hy Christ Himself, dearly purchased through His atoning sacrifice; but to 
the sinner it is the gift of free grace, proffered and bestowed ' without money and 
without price.' The invitation at the close of the sacred volume is, ' The spirit and 
the bride say come. And let him that heareth say come. And let him that is athirst 
come ; and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. ' Jesus declared — 'Him 
that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. ' Paul (in Eomans iii ., 22) states — 
'The righteousness of God, which is by faith in Jesus Christ, is unto all and upon 
all them that believe, for there is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short 
of the glory of God.' Sinners under conviction are embarrassed, and do not discern 
and appreciate the entire freeness of the way of access to God on the throne of grace 
through Christ, because they fail to distinguish between the warrant to believe in 
Christ and the views and dispositions requisite to embrace that warrant. The war- 
rant to believe is simply and wholly the free offer of the Gospel, in the freeness and 
fullness of the blessings of redemption to all who will accept. It is a faithful saying, 
worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. 
His only plea is, I am a sinner; his only claim, Jesus is the Saviour, able to save to the 
uttermost. The views and dispositions requisite to embrace Christ are alone a deep 
and just conviction of guilt and sin, an utter renunciation of righteousness of his 
own, and' the refuge of the soul in the controlling desires to the needed, suitable, and 
all-sufficient salvation in Christ. The convinced and seeking sinner, delivered from 
his embarrassment, and discovering the new and living way in the freeness of divine 

140 



EEV. THOMAS DE WITT, D. D. 

grace, comes to Christ in the entireness of cordial dependence, and free and Ml 
surrender. His language is— 

' Just as I am, without one plea, 

But that Thy blood was shed for me, 

And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee, 
Oh, Lamb of God, I come ! 

'Just as I am, Thou wilt receive, 
"Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve, 
Because Thy promise I believe, 
Oh, Lamb of God, I come !' 
"How wondrously great and free is this salvation. ' Come, for all things are ready. 
Well may we exclaim, ' How shall we escape ie we neglect so gkeat salvation ?' ' 

Dr. De Witt is a man of venerable, striking presence. Of a well- 
formed, stately figure, he has a countenance showing the most decided 
characteristics of the manly, upright nature. It is one of those faces 
that bespeaks the individual as truly and as clearly as the record of 
daily deeds. There is no disguise in it ; no measure of dissembling, 
even the slightest ; no expression which is not a correct index of the 
inward man. You see in him the fair-dealing, out-spoken, incor- 
ruptible man, decided in his opinions, and living up to every precept 
that he inculcates. His mouth is rather large, and, being habitually 
compressed, gives his face, as a whole, a stern as well as decided look. 
The eyes, however, are ever soft and kindly, and at the same time 
searching and admonitory. About the brow are to be seen the best 
evidences of natural ability of the highest order. It is deep and 
wide, and has that rotundity noticeable in those of superior mental 
endowments. An examination of the character and capability of 
Dr. De Witt will prove him true in every particular to these con- 
clusions, drawn from his imposing and expressive physical structure. 
All his personal qualities are those of the Christian gentleman, and 
his intellectual accomplishments are both varied and comprehensive. 
He is one of the foremost men, not only in his own denomination, 
but in the entire ministry. His long life has been given to a diligent 
and scholarly investigation of theological topics, and no man is more 
conversant with all doctrinal points than himself. He is in the 
strictest sense an expounder of the Scriptures and of creeds, giving to 
them a thoroughly critical and learned analysis. In personal inter- 
course he is never other than dignified, but it is accompanied with so 
much true courtesy and friendliness that he occasions no restraint 
He is an experienced discerner of character, and is quick to appreciate 
and encourage those traits tending to moral and religious worth. 

141 



KEV. THOMAS D E WITT, D. D. 

The young, especially, are subjects of his almost paternal attention, 
and his appearance and manners are well calculated to give force to 
his valuable and gentle counsels. 

Dr. De "Witt is a citizen of the olden time, having little con- 
geniality of spirit with the new era. Looking about him, he feels as 
if he had been in a Rip Van "Winkle sleep, so complete and yet so 
rapid have been the changes wrought by what men call progress. His 
memory is linked with the humble beginnings of half a century ago, 
and he finds it impossible to identify himself with the astonishing 
realization of the present. He talks about the past, he loves the 
society of those who delight in its reminiscences, and in his study are 
to be found its memorials in furniture, books, &c. We would not 
have it understood that he is without appreciation of the magnifi- 
cent results of the well-directed energy of his countrymen, biit simply 
that he finds himself whirled into the midst of influences at variance 
with his habits and prejudices. Standing as he does on the verge of 
the shore of life, he turns awa3* from the noise and show of the rest- 
less, reckless present, to the contemplation of the sober, reflective 
past. The follies, the sensations, and the peculiar teachings of the 
hour do not attract him from his evening musings over the morning 
and noon of a life to be, until its sunset, a true illustration of the 
substantial virtues of the earlier day. And to those who are watch- 
ing the evening which he has reached, its closing glories seem to have 
lost nothing in splendor since the long-past but never-forgotten dawn. 

To our view, the character of this godly and distinguished man 
meets exactly the poet's picture of the exemplary preacher, as 
delineated in the following lines : 

"Would I describe a preacher, such as Paul, 
Were he on earth, would hear, approve, and own, 
Paul should himself direct me. I would trace 
His master-strokes, and draw from his design. 
I would express him simple, grave, sincere ; 
In doctrine uncorrupt, in language plain, 
And plain in manner; decent, solemn, chaste, 
And natural in gesture; much impress'd 
Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, 
And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds 
May feel it too; affectionate in look, 
And tender in address, as well becomes 
A messenger of grace to guilty men." 

142 



REV. JACOB W. DILLER, D. D., 

RECTOR OF ST. ETJItE'S EPISCOPAL. CHURCH, 

BROOKLYN. 




EY. DR. JACOB W. DILLER was born at Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania, September 25th, 1810. After pursuing a 
course of academic studies at the Flushing Institute, 
Long Island, under Eev. Dr. Muhlenberg, he remained 
for eight years an instructor in the Institution, at the same time 
preparing himself for the Episcopal ministry. He was admitted 
to deacon's orders in April, 1834, at St. George's Church, Flushing, 
by Bishop Benj. T. Onderdonk, and priest's in June, 1835, at St. 
John's Church, Brooklyn, by the same bishop. From 1835 to 1838 
he was assistant to Rev. Dr. (" Domine") Evan M. Johnson, at St. 
John's, and in the latter year became rector of St, Stephen's Church, 
Middlebury, Vermont, where he remained until June, 1842, when 
he entered upon his present rectorship of St. Luke's, Brooklyn. 

As« early as 1835 a parish, known as Trinity Church, was 
organized in the eastern section of Brooklyn, then a mere rural dis- 
trict, by Rev. D. Y. M. Johnson, the present rector of St. Mary's 
Church, Brooklyn, and a church was erected on what is now the site 
of St. Luke's. The parish languished during several years under 
different rectors, and was finally abandoned, and subsequently the 
church was sold by the sheriff. In 1842, however, the parish of St. 
Luke was organized, and the property was purchased, through the 
assistance of Trinity Church, New York, for the sum of four thou- 
sand dollars. Dr. Diller was called as the first rector, the church 
having twelve communicants. The congregation gained greatly in 
strength, and in 1853 an enlargement of the church was completed, 
at a cost of fifteen thousand dollars. A rectory was also built, cost- 
ing three thousand dollars. The whole property is free from debt, 
an encumbrance of thirteen thousand dollars having been paid in 
1864. During twenty-one years of Dr. Diller's connection with St. 
Luke's, up to 186- Q here were 1,301 baptisms, 537 persons confirmed, 

143 



REV. JACOB W. DILLER, D. D. 

1,095 new communicants, 248 marriages, and 705 burials. The 
church services read by Dr. Diller from May, 1834, to June, 1842, 
numbered 984, and in St. Luke's, up to 1863, 8,887. Daily church 
services have been held for many years, and Dr. Diller officiates 
about one hundred and fifty times in the year. He is also the super- 
intendent of his own Sunday School. The last annual report of the 
parish shows three hundred and forty communicants, and about two 
hundred children in the Sunday School. 

Dr. Diller received his degree of D. D. from Middlebury College, 
in 1861. He has published various sermons and pastoral addresses. 

Dr. Diller is over the medium height, of broad, round person, and 
very erect. His hair and whiskers are considerably sprinkled with 
an iron gray, and he shows his age in everything save the surprising 
vigor of the physical man. He walks with the firm, elastic tread of 
a much younger person, and the severe toils of an extended and 
more than ordinarily diligent ministry have rather developed than 
impaired a naturally robust constitution. Like all men who are not 
merely hard workers, but cheerful workers, he has an abounding, 
overflowing good nature. In social life, if there is any possible way 
to penetrate you with a ray of sunshiile, he is pretty sure to accom- 
plish it. A love of good, wholesome, refreshing cheerfulness beams 
forth in his countenance. His eyes sparkle and laugh as he ex- 
periences the enjoyment of animated conversation, always enriching 
it from his own never-failing resources of fancy, wit, and humor. 
While thus a cheerful man, with a sprightly genial nature, and ever 
seeking to find a silver lining in every cloud, still he exhibits no 
departure from ministerial decorum. On the contrary, his upper- 
most thought is the discharge of his holy offices, and his whole life 
has been a painstaking application of his energies to his Christian 
labor. But he is not one of those religious characters whom you 
invariably find in sackcloth and ashes, in sorrow, and tears, and 
gloom. True to his God, his church, and his conscience, hopeful 
and cheerful in earth's brief pilgrimage, he has seen no reason to 
conquer a natural buoyancy of spirits which, to his view, demon- 
strates a chief beauty of the regenerate heart. 

Dr. Diller belongs to the section of the Episcopal sect known as 
"High Church,"' and is a most rigid observer of the ritual. He takes 
it in its strict letter and spirit, and rigidly enforces both in all his 
professional duties. His sermons, pastoral addresses, and Sabbath 
school instruction are comprehensive expositions of the Episcopal 

144 



REV. JACOB W. DILLER, D. D. 

faith, and none who fall under his instruction fail to receive light re- 
garding every point of inquiry. This may even be called a pecu- 
liarity with him. He holds that every man, woman, and child 
should have a faith ; and, having one, should understand it. His 
own he accepts as the true interpretation of the Gospel, and with a 
scholarly address and a holy enthusiasm he proclaims it, lives to 
illustrate it, and seeks to enlarge his beloved church. To be an 
ambassador of the Most High and a presbyter of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church with him is not a mere professional occupation, 
but it is to be a priest in its fullest religious sense. Principalities 
and powers, fame and riches, and all the world's allurements and 
glitter, do not weigh " in the estimation of a hair " with the perform- 
ance of the smallest of his ministerial functions. For him there is 
no human exaltation like that of rugged toil in the holy calling, and 
no human achievement like that of giving peace to the anxious soul. 
He preaches very effectively, but in a style altogether simple, and 
devoid of display. 

145 



REV. MORGAN DIX, S. T. D., 

RECTOR OF TRINITY PARISH, NEW YORK. 




• EV. DB. MOEGAN DIX is the son of Major-GeneralJohn 
A. Dix, and was born in the city of New York in 1827. 
He was graduated at Columbia College in the class of 
1848, and at the General Theological Seminary in the class 
of 1852. He was ordained deacon in St. John's Chapel, New 
^3 York, in September, 1862, by the Bishop of New Hampshire, 
and priest in St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia, in 1854, by Bishop 
Alonzo Potter, of Pennsylvania. 

His first position was as assistant to Per. Dr. Wilmer, rector of 
St. Mark's church, Philadelphia. In 1855, he became one of the 
assistant ministers of Trinity parish, New York ; 1858, assistant 
rector; and November, 1862, rector, having succeeded Eev. Dr. 
William Berrian. He received from Columbia College the degree 
of A. B., in 1848 ; A. M., in 1851 ; and S. T. D., in 1863. He has 
published several devotional manuals, numerous sermons, an essay on 
Christian art, a commentary on the Epistle to the Eomans, and other 
writings. 

Trinity parish is the oldest church organization of New York. 
with the single exception of the Eeformed Dutch Collegiate Church ; 
the last came of the early Dutch settlers, and the other came of the 
English conquerors. About 1664, the first meetings were held for 
public worship, in a chapel within a fort on the Battery. 

On the 6th of February, 1697, divine service was first performed 
in an edifice which had been erected on the present site of Trinity 
church, on Broadway, at the head of Wall street. The rector was 
Eev. M. Yesey, who went to England and was married. He officiated 
ably and faithfully for the long period of fifty years. In 1715, Queen 
Anne made a grant to the corporation of Trinity church, of certain 
land known as the " Queen's Farm," lying on the west side of Man- 
hattan Island, and extending from St. Paul's chapel, Broadway, 
northerly, along the river, to Skinner's road, now Christopher street. 
This property is now the heart of the business portion of the city of 
New York, and is of course of great value. Some of it has been 

146 



REV. MORGAN DII, S. T. D. 

sold by the church, and much of it is under long leases at merely 
nominal rents. The leases of a large number of lots held by Wm. B. 
Astor, worth millions, and only yielding a rental of some seventy 
dollars per year, expired in 1866. St. John's park property, an entire 
square opposite St. John's chapel, belonging to the corporation, and 
the property fronting it, was sold to the Hudson Eiver Railroad Com- 
pany for a depot, at the handsome price of one million of dollars. 
The value of the property still owned by the church amounts to 
many millions. The corporation has had its title to this property as- 
sailed before the Legislature and in the courts, by persons who claim 
to be heirs of a certain Dutch woman named Anneke Jans, but it is not 
probable that they can ever be dispossessed. Grace church congrega- 
tion was much assisted in building their former church edifice on the 
comer of Broadway and Rector street, by the Trinity corporation. 
From 1745 to 1847, the loans, grants, &c, made by the corporation 
at the then value of land, exceeded two millions of dollars, which 
was more than two-thirds of the value of all that remained. Of this, 
one-half was leased at merely nominal rents, amounting to only four 
hundred dollars per annum ; and there was a debt of four hundred 
and forty thousand dollars. 

The amount received from ground rents, pews, and other sources 
for many years never rose higher than $57,932 37, leavinga net income 
of only $33,130 to meet the ordinary expenses of the parish, the annual 
allowance to most of the Episcopal churches of the city, and many 
throughout the State. Trinity church was enlarged in 1737, de- 
stroyed by fire in 1776, rebuilt in 1788, then taken down, and in 
1846 the present building was completed at a cost of $358,623 34. 
The church is entirely of brown stone and is one of the most mag- 
nificent in the country. St. George's chapel in Beekman street was 
erected in 1752. St. Paul's chapel, on Broadway and Fulton and 
Yesey streets, was completed in 1766. Its centennial anniversary 
was celebrated by the re-delivery, by Dr. Vinton, of the sermon 
preached as its consecration. It was built in the middle of a wheat- 
field, and its front was placed facing the Hudson river, as it then 
stood on its bank, though now several blocks distant from it. St. 
John's chapel, in Varick street, was completed in 1807, and at a more 
recent period Trinity chapel was erected in Twenty-fifth street All 
the churches erected by the corporation, with the exception of St 
George's chapel are still connected with the parish. There is, beside 
the rector, seven assistant ministers in charge of the different churches. 

147 



REV. MORGAN DIX, S. T. D. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States has fifty- 
three bishops (six missionary), 2,900 clergy, or one bishop for every 
fifty-five clergymen, 225,000 communicants, 24,500 Sunday school 
teachers, 230,000 Sunday school scholars, and contributes, for church 
purposes, $5,600,000 annually. 

Dr. Dix is a tall, sparely-made person, with long, sharp features. 
His complexion is pale, and his composed expression approaches to 
severeness. Like so many of this class, however, his face most 
generally lights up with animation when he speaks. He is one who 
would be singled out of the crowd as a man of student life and large 
intellectual capacity. His head, in the upper sections, expands as if 
it were a dome, and the calm, steady, intelligent eye speaks of the 
massive brain within. He is a courteous, affable, high-toned gentle- 
man, and altogether free from that affected dignity and supercilious- 
ness of which successful young clergymen are so often guilty. Born 
the inheritor of an honored name, ambitious to attain eminence in 
his profession, singularly fortunate in this advancement, yet he seems 
to have thoroughly schooled himself in humility rather than at all in 
arrogance. His professional and official associations are mostly with 
men much his seniors in life, but they find him their equal in ability, 
and award him their admiration for his long-matured virtues. 

We regard Dr. Dix as one of the most promising of the Episcopal 
clergy. He has already made himself a reputation as a thinker and 
speaker, among both ministers and people. His sermons are highly 
original productions, written in pure, beautiful, readable English. 
The words have force, harmony, and fascinating eloquence, and 
throughout the thought is profound. There is no slip-shod, frothy 
declamation, but every page has received the impress of scholarly, 
manly, Christian reflection. He is likewise an agreeable, graceful 
speaker. There is something of a harshness about his full, strong 
voice when he commences, but this gradually disappears, and the ear 
is captivated by those careful modulations which show the finished 
orator. His gestures are few and simple, while always expressive and 
impressive % 

Such, in brief terms, is a description of the talented rector of 
Trinity parish. Already clothed with functions of commanding im- 
portance and influence, esteemed and honored in all past and present 
relations of his social and professional life, he may well lay claim, in 
his future career, to the proudest honors which the Church can be- 
stow. 148 




m&RAWD ET E S. WAGNER. FROM £V£&UT.RPj:OTYPE ET XICE&BIi S . 



eie^; smws b jrnaHKT® i 




^^y- 




REV. JOHN DOWLING, D.J)., 

PASTOR OF THE SOUTH BAPTIST CHTJBCH, 

Pf.EW YORK. 




'EV. DR. JOHN DOWLING was born at Pavensey, on 
the sea coast of Sussex, in England, May 12th, 1807. 
This place is memorable as the landing place of William 
the Conqueror in 1066, and near the town of Hastings, 
where the Norman Conqueror, soon after landing, triumphed 
«"3 over the Saxon monarch of England. Overhanging the house 
in which Dr. Dowling was bom may still be seen the ivy-crowned 
walls of Pavensey Castle, which once sheltered the soldiers of King 
William — even in his day an ancient ruin of Roman origin, covering 
several acres. Dr. Dowling's parents and ancestors for several gen- 
erations were zealous adherents of the Established (Episcopal) 
Church of England. He removed, however, at an early age to Lon- 
don, and at seventeen became a member of the Eagle street Baptist 
church, under the care of Eev. Joseph Ivimey, the historian of the 
English Baptists. His youth was devoted chiefly to study and 
literary pursuits. At the early age of nineteen he accepted an ap- 
pointment as instructor in the Latin language and literature at the 
Chapham Pise Classical Institute, in the suburbs of London, and two 
years later he became instructor in the Hebrew, Creek, Latin, and 
French languages, in a similar institution in Buckinghamshire, under 
the care of Rev. Ebenezer West. 

In 1829, Dr. Dowling established a classical boarding-school in 
Oxfordshire, a few miles from Oxford University, which continued 
in a flourishing condition until he disposed of it for the purpose of re- 
moving to America. He frequently officiated as a preacher in the 
pulpits of the neighboring pastors. 

In 1832, he embarked with his family for the United States, 
where he arrived in safety. It was not long before he received a call 
to the Baptist church at Catskill, where he was ordained November 
14th, 1832, and preached with success for two years. After this he 



149 



KEY. JOHN DOW LING, D. D. 

passed two years at Newport, E. L, and in August, 1836, was in- 
stalled as pastor of a Baptist congregation in New York, worshiping 
in Gothic Masonic Hall. He also preached for some two or three 
years as pastor of the Broadway Baptist church in Hope Chapel, and 
at another period went to a church in Providence. 

In 1844, he first became pastor of the Berean Baptist church in 
Bedford street, New York. After a ministry of eight years, in 1852, 
he accepted a call to a church in Philadelphia, where he remained 
some time. In 1856, he resumed his charge of the Bedford street 
church, at their urgent and unanimous request. Subsequently, after 
many years of efficient service, he went to a church in Newark, for 
a few years, but he is now the pastor of the South Baptist Church, 
New York. 

Dr. Dowling has been a somewhat prolific writer. While living 
in England he published three school books, which for many years 
were in general use, and are still in use in some of the schools of 
Great Britain. He has published in this country the "History of 
Eomanism," (a large octavo volume of 734 pages, of which some 
thirty thousand copies have been published and sold, ) " Power of 
Illustration," "Nights and Mornings," " Judson Offering," etc. He 
has also contributed largely to the religious and periodical literature 
of the day, written introductory essays to several works, and pub- 
lished numerous anniversary sermons and college addresses. 

In 1834 he received the honorary degree of A. M. from Brown 
University, and in 1846, soon after the publication of his " History 
of Eomanism," the degree of D. D. from Transylvania University. 

Dr. Dowling has a large, round head, bald about the brow, and 
wears heavy whiskers. His features are regular, and, while not over 
large, are prominent, and expressive of the intelligent and highly 
moral man. His forehead is particularly high and broad. His ej-es 
are clear and penetrating, and at the same time that there is every- 
thing gentle about them, as well as in the half smile which lingers 
round the mouth, still his face likewise betokens a strong, inflexible, 
stem character both in regard to principles and purpose. His man- 
ners are cordial, and he is an outspoken man — always, however, with 
due regard to the feelings of others and a nice sense of propriety. 
There is a great deal of cheerfulness and hunor about him ; and he is 
a person well calculated to interest and fascinate the youthful as well 
as those of matured years. 

Dr. Dowling's sermons are thoughtful compositions, deeply emo- 



REV. JOHN DOW" LING, D. D. 

tional, and full of religious fervor. His mind is thoroughly trained 
in theological discussion, and with this capacity he unites a heart 
overflowing with tender sympathies, and a nature completely infused 
with religious enthusiasm. Hence he preaches most effectively. He 
makes the doubtful points of doctrine plain, he kindles the emotions 
of his hearers from his own, and he is eloquent to a degree in pic- 
turing the bliss of the true and constant religious life. 

Dr. Dowling is in every sense an able and a valuable man. The 
abilities and fidelity of such men are the very rock and foundation 
upon which the church must rest her whole earthly superstructure. 
"Working for the redemption of a fallen race and the glory of God, 
they are its faithful apostles and our perfect men. 

151 



REV. GEORGE B. DRAPER, D. D., 

RECTOR OF ST. .AJVOREWS EPISCOPAL. 
CHURCH, (HARI/EM:,) NEW YORK. 




•EV. DR. GEORGE B. DRAPER was born at Brattleboro, 
Vermont, July 20th, 1827. His early studies were at 
Trinity school, New York. He was graduated at Colum- 
bia College in 1845, and at the General Episcopal Theolo- 
gical Seminary, New York, in 1849. He was made deacon 
the same year, at Holy Trinity Church, Brooklyn, by Bishop 
"Whitehouse, of Illinois, and priest in 1851, at the Church of the 
Ascension, New York, by Bishop Chase, of New Hampshire. He 
officiated for one year as assistant of the Rev. Dr. C. S. Henry at St. 
Clement's Church, New York, while deacon, and then accepted a 
call to St. Andrew's parish. He entered upon his duties July 23d, 
1850, and has now been in charge of the parish for the term of 
twenty-three years. 

The earliest movement for the establishment of an Episcopal 
parish in the district called Harlem was in August, 1828, through 
the exertions of the Rev. Dr. Wainwridrt, afterward Provisional 
Bishop of the Diocese, and who had a summer residence on the bank of 
the East river, near Hurlgate. The subject was agitated, and several 
meetings took place at a private house. Religious services were 
held in the school house in November, and the parish was duly or- 
ganized under the name of St. Andrew's Church, New York, Febru- 
ary 4th, 1829. Rev. George L. Hinton was called as the first rector, 
who served until his death by cholera in the summer of 1832, when 
himself, wife, and child all died within a few hours. A donation of 
eleven lots of ground on Fourth avenue was made by Charles Henry 
Hall, Esq., and six adjoining lots on One-hundred-and-twenty-sev- 
enth and One-hundred-and-twenty-eighth streets were purchased for 
five hundred and fifty dollars for the whole. The corner-stone of a 
church edifice was laid by Bishop John Henry Hobart on the 6th of 
August, 1829, and the building was consecrated on the 7th of June, 

152 



REV. GEORGE B. DRAPER, D. D. 

1830. The consecration was among the latest public acts of Bishop 
Hobart, who died on the 12th of September following. The whole 
cost of the structure was about four thousand six hundred dollars, of 
which there remained a debt of four thousand dollars in a mortgage 
on the property. At that time the church had twenty communicants. 
The Eev. Gurdon S. Coit officiated temporarily as rector after the 
decease of the Rev. Mr. Hinton, and in October, 1833, the Eev. 
Abraham B. Hart accepted a call to the parish. In the summer of 
1833, the finances of the church were much improved by the pay- 
ment of the mortgage by Trinity church, a new one being given to 
that corporation for the same amount, on which they agreed to exact 
no interest. In 1839 nearly twelve hundred dollars were paid for 
assessments on account of the opening and regulating of streets, 
which sum was raised by subscription among members of the con- 
gregation. 

The rector having resigned by reason of ill-health, the Rev. J. 
Bosevelt Bayley accepted a call in October, 1840. In April, 1842, 
Mr. Bayley resigned the rectorship, and soon after united with the 
Boman Catholic Church. He became a priest, and is now the emi- 
nent Most Rev. Dr. Bayley, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic See 
of Baltimore, Md. It may be mentioned that his father was the late 
Guy C. Bayley, M. I)., one of the vestrymen of St. Andrew's, and 
that his grandfather, James Rosevelt, Esq., a wealthy old Knicker- 
bocker, disinherited him for what he deemed apostacy to the true 
creed, appropriating his portion to charitable purposes. In July, 
1842, the Rev. Ralph Hoyt was called to the charge of St. Andrew's, 
who remained one year. In 1843 the Rev. Richard M. Abercrombie 
was placed in charge, and in 1846 was called to the rectorship, which 
he retained until 1850. 

On the 6th of June, 1850, the Rev. George B. Draper, deacon, 
was called to the rectorship " so soon as he should have received 
priest's orders, and meanwhile to officiate as minister." Having been 
admitted to priest's orders, he entered on his duties as rector on the 
16th of March, 1851. 

The church property of St. Andrew's parish consists of sixteen 
city lots, a little more than one half of which was used for burial 
purposes. The original church building stood on One Hundred and 
Twenty-seventh street, and was a neat structure of wood, with a high 
stone basement It was three times enlarged during the term of the 
present rector, and materially altered from the original building.. In 

153 



REV. GEORGE 

1851, a rectory was built on a line with the rear of the church to- 
ward Fourth avenue. During 1867 fourteen thousand dollars was 
raised by the congregation to pay for repairing and improving the 
church property. In November, 1871, the church was destroyed by 
fire. Subsequently the dead were removed from the graveyard, for 
the purpose of erecting a new church on that site. In December, 
1872, the corner-stone of the new edifice was laid by the Bishop of 
the Diocese. A fine stone structure has been erected, with a seating 
capacity of one thousand persons. At the commencement of Mr. 
Draper's term there were only thirty families, whereas there are now 
two hundred families, two hundred and fifty communicants, and a 
Sunday School of twenty-two teachers and two hundred and fifty 
scholars. 

This church, like the others on the north end of the Island, was 
originally largely attended by families in Westchester county. 
Many of the best known and wealthiest families of New York and 
that county have been among its parishioners. The congregation is 
now so numerous that another parish has been organized. 

Dr. Draper received his degree of D. D. from Columbia College 
in June, 1868. At one time he was editor of the Churchman's Month- 
ly Magazine, but his increasing parochial duties obliged him to re- 
linquish the position. 

He is above the medium height, well-proportioned, and erect. 
He has a head round and full in the upper part, with a thin and 
narrow face. His features are regular, and there is an honesty, 
frankness, and good -nature in both his countenance and manners 
which are very attractive. You readily see that he is a man of great 
force and energy of character, though his labors are always per- 
formed in a mode the most circumspect and modest. Few men have 
bolder or better settled purposes than he, and still he ever goes on 
the " noiseless tenor " of his way in a manner unlike most of 
those who are engaged in great public efforts. 

Dr. Draper is a preacher of eloquence and power. He has a 
mind of natural scope and vigor, and his life has been one of close 
investigation in the fields of theological and general learning. The 
action of his mind is quick and keen, and his powers of elucidation 
and reasoning are such that he has no difficulty in making every 
subject clear to the understanding of others. He is fair and frank 
in his style of argument; he searches out all obstacles and embarrass- 
ments for you; he presents the matter in every possible point of 

154 



REV. GEORGE B. DRAPER, D. D. 

view, and even then he does not ask for your concurrence in his 
opinion nntil you have given a calm, mental consideration to this 
argument His words are sincere and well meant ; he rises before 
the mind as the interested friend and affectionate brother ; he touches 
the susceptibilities by his gentleness, his frankness, and his fascina- 
ting intelligence, and thns it is that he wins souls to repentance. It 
is not in him to wound by a single expression, but his lips are truly 
annointed to heal ; it is not in him to repel, but to save. His calm 
and impressive delivery, his well chosen and fluent words, his simple 
but expressive gestures, are all potent in his public exercises. With 
an entire abnegation of the individual, he seems the impersonation 
of those endowments which exalt the mere human into the spiritual 
character. 

155 



REV. T. STAFFORD DROWNE, D. D., 

HECTOR OF ST. TA.TJT,'S (EPISCOPALI CHUECH, 

BKOOKLYN. 




EY. THOMAS STAFFORD DROWNE, D. D., was bora 
at Fruit Hill, North Providence, Rhode Island, on the 
9th of July, 1823. He was graduated at Brown Uni- 
versity, Providence, September 3d, 1845, and at the 
General Theological Seminary, New York City, June 
30th, 1848. Immediately afterward, on July 2d, he was ad- 
mitted to deacon's orders in Grace Church, New York, by 
Bishop De Lancey, of Western New York ; and to priest's orders on 
July 1st, 1849, in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, by 
Bishop Whittingham, of Maryland. 

On the 1st of November, 1848, Dr. Drowne became Assistant 
Minister of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, in which 
position he continued for a period of nearly ten years, at the expira- 
tion of which, on the 22d of June, 1858, he was elected to the rector- 
ship of St. Paul's parish. This church was organized on Christmas 
Day, 1849, under the pastoral charge of the Rev. Isaac P. Labagh, 
being one of the religious movements in South Brooklyn, a portion 
of the city then but sparsely populated Services were held for a short 
time in a room over a stable at the foot of Union street, when lots 
were procured, and a small edifice was erected in Carroll street, be- 
tween Henry and Hicks streets. In the fall of 1850 there were only 
thirteen communicants ; but the congregation increased, and during 
the summer of 1852 the building was enlarged with transepts and a 
chancel. The Bev. Mr. Labagh having withdrawn to take charge of 
Calvary Church, in another part of the city, Dr. Drowne was called 
to the vacancy, and the parish has since enjoyed increased and con- 
stant prosperity. During 1860 the building was again enlarged and 
improved, with sittings for about six hundred people. When Dr. 
Drowne took charge in 1858, the number of communicants was under 

156 



EEV. 

fifty, but it has steadily increased, until there are now four hundred 
and forty-five; while the number of families connected with the par- 
ish is two hundred, and of individuals nearly a thousand. The 
Sunday school contains over two hundred and fifty children : and 
the contributions during the past year for parochial and general objects 
have been nearly twenty thousand dollars. The steady growth of 
the congregation having rendered necessary a larger and better edifice, 
a new and more central site was obtained on the corner of Clinton 
and Carroll streets, and on the 2d of November, 1866, ground was 
broken for the present church. It was completed, and first used for 
divine worship, on the 19th of September, 1869 : and for appropriate 
design, massive and elegant workmanship, and pleasing architect- 
ural effect, has few equals in our country. The dimensions are 145 
feet in length, 72 in width, and 60 in height, with ample accommo- 
dation for a thousand persons. A commodious chapel has since been 
added, 85 feet in length by 34 in breadth, also of rich design, in 
harmony with the church, which was first occupied by the Sunday- 
school of the parish on the 15th of September, 1872. 

Since the erection of Long Island into a diocese, Dr. Drowne 
has filled the office of its Secretary, and been a member of its Stand- 
ing Committee, and also served on other important committees and 
boards of trustees. In 1870 he was appointed the registrar and his- 
toriographer of the diocese. His interest in historical and anti- 
quarian researches has led to his election to membership in several 
State historical societies, the American Ethnological Society, and 
other literary bodies. In his library, which is very large and select, 
the works of the best authors of all times are to be found, in almost 
every department of theology, history, the fine arts, and general 
literature. 

Dr. Drowne has made architecture a subject of extensive study. 
He was intimately associated in these investigations with that eminent 
master of the art, the late Minard Lafever, and is the author of the 
letter-press of a work of deep research, issued under the name of the 
latter, and known as " The Architectural Instructor," containing a 
history of architecture from the earliest ages to the present time. Dr. 
Drowne has also published " A Commemorative Discourse, delivered 
on the completion of the Church of the Holy Trinity, December 
19th, 1867, with Illustrative Historical Notes," and an " Address at 
a Memorial Service," in the same church, November 26th, 1871, on 
the occasion of uncovering the mural tablet erected in memory of its 

157 



REV. T. STAFFORD DROWNE, D. D. 

founders. From time to time he has contributed articles, theologic- 
al, critical, and historical, to various reviews, and he is a person of 
the most acceptable literary as well as artistic taste. 

We make the following extract from a published sermon, entitled 
" The End of Pride," preached at the Church of the Holy Trinity, 
July 24th, 1853 : 

' ' And looking at society in its best phases, and selecting its best examples, is 
there not too much groveling selfishness, and luxurious living, and fashionable dis- 
play, and irreligious vanity ? Is there not, even among Christians, the professed 
disciples of a lowly and stlf-denying Master, too much extravagant self-indulgence 
and worldly conformity ? One man prides himself upon his large estate, his splen- 
did equipages, his magnificent house, his beautiful paintings, his elegant furniture, 
and the number of servants he employs. Another congratulates himself upon his 
mental gifts, his literary reputation, his business talents, his mechanical skill or 
his graceful accomplishments. Another is puffed up with his beauty, or his dress, 
or his polished manners, or his noble descent. What excess of folly ! Why glory 
in that which is so transitory and worthless ? Why glory in that which is not thine, 
but which thou hast received as a talent from God ? Boastest thou of wealth ? It 
is always winged for flight, and may in a moment break away from thy grasp for- 
ever. Boastest thou of thy grace and beauty? They aro as fading as the flower 
that charms at early mom with its loveliness, and before eventide is withered. 
Boastest thou of thy mental gifts ? They may be the very means of thy disgrace or 
thy destruction. Boastest thou of thy noble virtues, or thy deeds of liberality ? 
Thy very boasting deprives thee of respect, and renders them of no effect. 

"Alas ! what a sudden overthrow and complete destruction shall come at last to 
all this worldliness, and ostentation, and pride ! They must end. A man must 
reap what he sows. How soon in the dark charnel-house will be laid the pampered 
body, and to the darker abodes of the lost will descend the wailing soul ! The pro- 
phet's sentence will have its fulfilment anew — 'Thy pomp is brought down to the 
grave, and the noise of thy viols : the worm is spread under thee, and the worms 
cover thee.' 

"After all, what is it that we get out of this world ? It is but the supply of our 
few necessities — a little food, a few pieces of raiment, a short-lived reputation, a 
narrow grave, and perhaps a monumental shaft, chiseled with a pompous eulogy. 
We can take nothing with us on our last journey. The hand that now clings so tightly 
to this world's baubles must loosen its hold as it stiffens in death. What a quick 
transition must there soon be from affluence to emptiness ; from gay laughter to 
utter silence ; from painted ceilings to dark coffins ; from all this beautiful and 
marvelous life to a little heap of dust ! ' Recently two young princes,' we are told, 
' wished to see the remains of Gustavus Vasa, which lie in the vaults of the cathedral 
of Upsala. They obtained the consent of the King of Sweden, and the marble sar- 
cophagus was opened. But there was only the great man's skeleton, while the silk, 
and the velvet, and the brocade were yet fresh. The crown was there, and the 
sceptre, and the golden buckle, while precious stones shed a gleam through the 

ghastly chamber of the sepulchre. And this is the moral of all mere earthly good 

even the highest. Its splendor decorates the heart that must soon cease to heave, 
and its pomp survives and mocks the mortal dust.' " 

158 



REV. T. STAFFORD BROWNE, D. D. 

Dr. Drowne is slightly above the medium height, compactly 
made, with an erect bearing and active movements. His complexion 
is light, and he has one of those faces in which the calm hopeful 
nature is most typified. All the features are good, and intelli- 
gence is strongly signified in his fair, broad brow, but the expres- 
sion which arrests you is a cheerful serenity. Withal, and strangely 
too, judging from his contemplative habits and scholarly tastes, he is 
one of your strong men for action — for resolution which trims and 
relights the torch of hope as often as the flame dies out. Uniformly 
gentle and courteous in manner, whenever occasion demands he is 
iron of purpose, and he is strong in courage. Slow to resolve, he is 
the more firm when determined ; and conscientious in his judgment, 
he is calm in accepting all the consequences of his opinions. Cheer- 
fully serene, not at all intent to individualize himself from the mass 
of his fellows, it might well be thought that the potter's clay were 
not more pliant. But his character is as different from this as is the 
soft moss different from the rock to which it clings. In the ordinary 
everyday life, walking the beaten path, he is not unlike other men — 
common-place men — men tame from want of originality — men no- 
thing because there is so much of the same human material ; but 
outside of the ordinary life, in that whirlpool of action where man- 
hood and resolution and hope must cleave down obstacles, and pluck 
success from the grasp of ill-fortune — in that sphere he is a man of 
new and nobler elements of character. As you put your foot on the 
sandy shore it settles, but is sometimes checked by the hidden stone; 
and so in the case under consideration ; many a one has found the 
strong foundations of manly character where there seemed the least 
evidence of it Not the man to make a noise in the world, not the 
one to fascinate by showy qualities, and not the one to court no- 
toriety ; and yet one influential from potent though unobtrusive 
merit, one unwavering and heroic in life's battle, and one ever teach- 
ing the lesson of cheerfulness and patient endeavor. 

In personal intercourse Dr. Drowne is genial and highly com- 
panionable. He has excellent conversational powers, and uses them 
with much freedom, though never obtrusively. His sermons are 
well-written productions, sometimes studied and elaborated, but 
usually partaking more of the simple-worded or devotional exhor- 
tation. He has a voice of full compass, and altogether a pleasing 
and effective delivery. 

159 



REV. CORNELIUS R. DUFFIE, D. D., 

RECTOR OIT THE CHURCH OF ST. JOHN J3A.P- 

TI8T, (EPISCOPAL.) 




)EV. DR. CORNELIUS R. DUFFIE was bom in the city 
of New York, August 6th, 1821. His father was the late 
Rev. Cornelius R. Duffie, who took holy orders late in life, 
and was rector of St. Thomas' Church, formerly on the 
corner of Broadway and Houston street, having been a leading 
salt merchant. Dr. Duflie was graduated at Columbia College 
in 1841, and at the Episcopal General Theological Seminary, New 
York, in 1845. He was made a deacon in June, 1845, at Christ 
Church, Hartford, by Bishop Brownell, of Connecticut, and priest in 
1848, in Trinity Church, New York, by Bishop Wittingham of 
Maryland. After being engaged for a short time in the parish of 
St Paul's at Sing Sing, he became assistant minister in Trinity parish, 
New York, and thus remained about two years. In the spring of 
1848 he organized his present parish of St. John Baptist, in the 
upper part of the city, with a few families. Preaching was held 
temporarily in a small chapel, and, ground having been donated, a 
free-stone church edifice was erected on the corner of Lexington 
avenue and Thirty-fifth street, at a cost of some forty -five thousand 
dollars. The church was consecrated December 2d, 1856. There 
are now one hundred and fifty communicants, and one hundred and 
thirty children in the Sunday School. 

Dr. Duffie received his degree of D. D. from the University of 
New York in 1865. He was chosen chaplain of Columbia College 
in 1857, and still officiates daily at the College. His publications 
consist of various occasional sermons. 

Dr. Duffie is about the medium height, equally proportioned, and 
is energetic and active in his movements. His head is of the ordinary 
cast of an intelligent man. His expression is amiable, and his man- 
ners are quiet and plain. He is a serious, reflective person, and at 
no time yields to any especial vivacity. In the domestic circle and 



BEV. CORNELIUS R. DTJFFIE, D. D. 

in the society of children he shows a genial, cheerful disposition, but 
he is not a man with whom a very close intimacy is likely to be 
formed. This is not because he is naturally of a cold or repulsive 
nature, but simply because he seems thoroughly absorbed in his own 
thoughts and religious duties, and altogether indifferent to every- 
thing else. You see in all his conduct that he is a deeply conscien- 
tious man. His simplest acts are subjects of reflection, and he does 
nothing until it has received the sanction of the inward monitor. 
His personal discipline in this respect is rigid in the extreme. He 
makes no compromises with conscience, but boldly marks out the 
line of honorable and Christian duty, and this his feet always tread. 
Hence those who know his character hold his counsel and example 
in the highest possible esteem. 

Dr. Duffle's sermons are excellent religious and moral lessons. 
Nothing could be in better taste of its kind, or could it be delivered 
with more propriety and circumspection as to time and place. He 
is a calm preacher; there is no emotion and no excitement, but 
much sincerity and devoutness. Dr. Duffle is a good and pious man. 
He has led a blameless life, and is a hard worker. His diligent 
services in his rectorship, and his excellent example as a man and a 
citizen are subjects of unqualified appreciation by all persons ac- 
quainted with his career. 

161 



REV. JOSEPH T. DURYEA, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE CL.A6SON AVENUE PKE8BY- 
TERIAN CHURCH. BROOKLYN. 




EV. DR. JOSEPH T. DUE YE A was born at Jamaica, N. 
Y., Dec. 9th, 1834. He is of Huguenot descent, and his 
ancestors were of those who fled from European oppression 
to plant settlements in the Nw World. His earlier studies 
were pursued at Union Hall, a celebrated academy of the 
village. He subsequently went to Princeton College, where he was 
graduated in 1856, and three years later closed his theological course 
at the seminary of the same institution. Being of a literary tarn of 
mind, and a proficient in music, he early formed a plan of going to 
Chicago and starting a paper and opening a music and book-store. 
Three friends, however, without consultation with each other, strongly 
urged him to prepare for the ministry, which he at length concluded 
to do. He was licensed in the autumn of 1858, prior to his gradua- 
tion, by the Presbytery of Nassau. In 1859 he was ordained by the 
Presbytery of Troy, and installed as pastor of the Second Presbyte- 
rian Church, Troy, where he remained three years. During this period 
he was invited to prominent churches in New Orleans, Cincinnati, 
Cleveland, Chicago, San Francisco, and New York, but he could not 
be induced to leave his pleasant and highly successful field until 
compelled to do so by his health giving way to the severity of the 
climate. He was thoroughly prostrated, for a considerable part of 
the winter, by a neuralgic affection, and it became evident that he 
must seek restoration elsewhere. In April, 1862, he accepted a call 
to become one of the pastors of the Collegiate Eeformed Dutch 
Church, New York, long before tendered. By a providential circum- 
stance, his removal from Troy took place just preceding the great fire, 
which destroyed so much of the city, and, among other buildings, 

102 



EEV. JOSEPH T. DUBIEA, D. D. 

the Second Presbyterian church and the house in which Dr. Duryea 
had lived. Among other matters, in which he interested himself, 
was the work of the Christian Commission in the army. After going 
as a delegate into the field, he returned, and was chosen to address 
meetings in New York, Washington, and other important points, 
held to give the public the benefit of the observations of those who 
had become familiar with the actual operations of the Commission. 
Dr. Duryea showed great zeal in all branches of the labor under- 
taken by him, and his addresses were characterized by much interest 
of statement and eloquence of appeal. 

Several, years since, Dr. Duryea accepted a call to the Classon 
Avenue Presbyterian church, Brooklyn. He has gathered a large and 
influential congregation, and he is regarded as one of the foremost of 
the many able ministers of that city. 

In December, 1873, Dr. Duryea received a call to the Madison 
Square Presbyterian church, New York, to be the successor of the 
Rev. Dr. ¥m. Adams, and was offered a salary of eight thousand 
dollars, with two thousand additional for house rent. Not only did 
his congregation in Brooklyn oppose his acceptance of this call, but a 
large public meeting was held, at which speeches were made by 
different clergymen, and resolutions adopted urgently soliciting him, 
in behalf of the entire Christian community, not to abandon the field 
in which he was then so efficiently laboring. Shortly before the close 
of the meeting, the following letter, giving the information that he 
had declined the call, was received and read : — 

To the Session op the Classon Avenue Peesbytebian Church : — 

Deae Beetheen — At our last meeting I informed you that I had received a call 
to the pastorate of the Madison Square Presbyterian church, New York, and although 
I had neither desire nor conviction of duty inclining me to seek a separation from 
you, yet certain circumstances made it necessary that I should give this matter care- 
ful consideration. I have used all the means appointed by the Lord for the guidance 
of his ministers, and have concluded that it is my duty to remain where Providence 
has placed me. I have communicated my decision to the Madison Square church by 
a letter sent yesterday evening, to be delivered to-day. 

I hope the Lord will manifest approval and bless us together as pastor and people. 

Yours, most faithfully, 

JOSEPH T. DURYEA. 
Bbooklyn, Dec. 16th, 1873. 

Dr. Duryea is a handsome, intelligent appearing person, with a 
tall, erect, well-made figure. His features are as regular as if sculp- 
tured in marble by the hand of art ; and while his glances fall soft 

163 



KEV. JOSEPH T. DURTEA, D. D. 

and gentle as moonbeams, ever and anon they are wont to kindle and 
show the fires that burn within the aspiring, daring, hoping heart. 
The expression of the face is that of mingled amiability and thought- 
fulness. Serene and kind, it is also serious and reflective. His man- 
ners are unassuming, and, indeed, somewhat reserved, while showing 
no lack of confidence or culture. He talks well, with much cheer- 
fulness of disposition, a lively appreciation of genial and intelligent 
companionship, and great judgment and reflection regarding learned 
subjects. He is a fine singer, and performs on several instruments, 
and, as may be surmised, delights in discreet social enjoyments. At 
the same time, it can very well be seen that his impulses and all his 
desires are toned and kept entirely subordinate to the sacred mission 
to which he had devoted himself, and to the attainment of that con- 
spicuous scholarship to which he aspires. 

The selection of Dr. Duryea to be one of the pastors of the Col- 
legiate Dutch Church was a marked compliment to his piety and 
talents. He was asked to fill the place once occupied by a Livingston, 
a Kuypers, a Knox, and a Brownlee, and to be the colleague of a De 
Witt, a Vermilye, and a Chambers. These were of the immortal 
dead and of the illustrious living of one of the most ancient and in- 
fluential church organizations of the United States, and he who was 
called to its service must come as all his forerunners had come, noted 
for personal virtues, tried in the faith of the Gospel, and eminent for 
theological attainments. To such a position Dr. Duryea was invited, 
and under such circumstances he entered the pulpits of the Collegiate 
Church. Young, and modest in his nature, he might well have 
shrunk from the task before him without the slightest aspersion upon 
his scholarly qualifications. He might with justice have chosen the 
humbler walk of the inexperienced minister rather than a station 
made illustrious, through a period of more than two centuries, by 
pre-eminent godliness and learning. But, no ; gladly, proudly, and 
courageously he took his place at the olden altars, where clustered 
the memories of the fathers gone before, and where stood other aged 
and worthy watchmen of Z.on. His ambition was stimulated, not 
satisfied ; he was inspired, not abashed ; he consecrated himself more 
thoroughly to God's work, not forgetting humility as his own first 
example. 

Dr. Duryea is a preacher of remarkable effectiveness. His sermons 
are argumentative ; they go to the length and breadth and depth of 
principle, and still every word is earnest, graceful eloquence. He 

164 



RET. JOSEPH T. DURYEA, D. J). 

stands erect, looking the embodiment of conscious power, while his 
brain -and heart are overflowing with the theme to which he has ad- 
dressed his thoughts. In writing he has comprehended all that he 
desired to saj, and he has the art of reasoning and the force and 
beauty of language to make others comprehend it also. In speak- 
ing he feels, and shows that he feels, the truths that he declares, and 
his clear voice and perfect gesticulation carry his meaning direct and 
full to the conviction of the listening observer. Not a word falls 
barren of emphasis and effect, and as he proceeds, employing attitude 
as well as utterance, he sweeps irresistibly onward to the grand 
climax of the hearer's full subjugation in heart to his eloquence, in 
mind to his wisdom. He seems to impose upon himself the elucida- 
tion of difficult texts, and the expounding of great principles. Ab- 
sorbed, and yet quick to think in the study, he is all ease, eagerness, 
and eloquence in the pulpit. Going downward to the foundations of 
logic, he raises upward, where inspiration and faith allure his souL 
Speaking, gifted with all manly graces, his talents give splendor to 
Christian oratory. 

165 



REY. THEODORE A. EATON, 

BECTOR OF ST. CLEMENT'S EPISCOPAIj 
CHURCH. 




>EV. THEODORE A. EATON was bom in Boston, 
Massachusetts, August 3d, 1821, and is the son of the late 
Rev. Dr. Asa Eaton, for many years rector of Christ 

r Church in that city. After a coarse at St Paul's College, 

College Point, Long Island, he entered the Episcopal General 
<^ Theological Seminary, New York, and was graduated in 1848. 
He was made a deacon in the same year by Bishop Delancey, at 
Grace Church, in this city, and in 1849 was made priest, by Bishop 
Doane, at Grace Church, Newark. His first position was as assistant 
at the latter church, where he remained from 1848 to 1850. In the 
latter year he accepted a call to his present rectorship at St. Clement's 
Church, corner of Amity and Macdougal streets. 

This congregation was organized about 1830. Public services 
were held in a hall in Barrow street, until a church edifice was 
erected on property purchased on the corner of Amity and Mac- 
dougal streets, then considered one of the most eligible sites in the 
city. The first rector was Rev. Dr. Lewis P. Bayard, who was with 
the congregation about ten years, and during which time it greatly 
increased, and became one of the most flourishing in New York. 
Rev. Dr. E. N. Meade was rector for about seven years, and Rev. Dr. 
C. S. Henry for three years, the last being succeeded by Mr. Eaton. 
There are now some three hundred communicants, and about one 
hundred children in the Sunday school. This congregation has 
experienced the vicissitudes of all the down-town churches. The 
up-town migration of the inhabitants has almost totally changed the 
congregation from what it was in former days, and, as a consequence, 
impaired its numerical strength and influence in no small degree. 

Mr. Eaton is of the average height, with a rotund, though not dis- 
proportioned figure. He has a large, round head, delicate features, 
and fair complexion; and, while he has a considerable degree of 

166 



REV. THEODORE A. EATON. 

reserve and dignity about him, he is sufficiently genial to put all 
persons on easy terms with himself. He is decided in his purposes 
and firm in his opinions, but at the same time he is in no measure to 
be regarded as a stubborn or self-opinionated person in the common 
acceptation of those terms. He has very clear conceptions of the 
line of duty, and his conscience is kept not less clear by his manner 
of performing all that is required of him. He is not a man of parade, 
nor is he one of an especially demonstrative character, but you are 
never at a loss to know just where to find him on every question 
and in regard to every obligation. He is as true as steel, honorable 
to the letter, and faithful to the uttermost. And all this comes as a 
matter of course, for it is simply his natural character. Such men 
exercise the largest extent of moral infhience. Where others fail 
with effort, they succeed with none. Their consistency of life, their 
inflexibility of character, and their total want of everything like pre- 
sumption, secures them the confidence of their fellows, and makes 
them bright and accepted moral examples. In their modesty such 
persons hardly understand their own importance. Their influence is 
a silent force : it is not exercised for any selfish end, and it is shown 
more in their personal discipline and conduct than in any other way. 
In the case of Mr. Eaton, his ministerial life is unobtrusive ; he has 
no notoriety, and, in fact, little public fame, and still he has an 
integrity of principle and a purity of character which have given 
him an importance and value as a teacher and guide, with those who 
know him, far beyond that which is allied to a more prominent 
public position. 

Mr. Eaton is a preacher of a thoroughly sober, practical style. 
He is never carried away with his feelings, never shows the slightest 
impulsiveness, but delivers calm, thoughtful, sensible lessons upon 
faith and duty. His expositions in faith are particularly clear and 
beautiful. Without being illiberal or bigoted, he is a thorough 
churchman, and nothing gives him greater pleasure, or more power- 
fully appeals to all his reasoning faculties, than the explanation of 
the doctrines of his beloved church. He has a good voice, appro- 
priate gestures, and altogether his delivery is quite effective. 

167 



REV. DAYID EIMOM, PH. D., 

RA^BOSI OF THE TEMPI/E BETH EL, NEW TOBK. 




lEV. DE. DAVID EINHOEN was born in Dispec, 
Bavaria, November 10th, 1809. He studied at the Uni- 
versities of Erlangen, Wurzburg, and Munchen from 1828 
to 1834. He was first connected with synagogues in the 
Grand Duchies of Birkenfeld and Mecklenburg -Schwerin. 
Later he became Eabbi of the Eeform Congregation at Pesth, 
whose synagogue was closed by order of the Emperor of Austria, as 
he regarded their reform doctrines as one of the fruits of the revolu- 
lution of 1848. Dr. Einhorn determined to remove to the United 
States, and in 1855 reached Baltimore, Maryland, where he remained 
in charge of a synagogue for seven years and a half. He became 
deeply interested in the slavery question, taking extreme abolition 
views, and made himself very conspicuous, and, to some extent, un- 
popular by his preaching and writings on the subject. For seven 
years he published a monthly magazine, called Sinai, devoted to 
the cause of reform Judaism, but in which he also wrote strongly 
against the institution of slavery. "When the war finally broke out 
he was obliged to leave Baltimore. He then went to Philadel- 
phia, as rabbi of a prominent congregation, where he remained five 
years. In 1866 he was called to New York to become the first 
rabbi and preacher of the congregation " Adas Jeshurun," which was 
organized at that time. A spacious temple was built on Thirty- 
ninth street, near Seventh avenue, which was much improved in the 
summer of 1873. 

In the latter part of that year arrangements were made for a 
union of the " Adas Jeshurun " and " Anshi Chased " congregations, 
the latter of which had recently completed and dedicated a new 
temple on the corner of Lexington avenue and Sixty-third street. 
This old congregation of New York worshiped originally in "White 



REV. DAVID EINHORN, PH. D. 

street, from which place they moved into Elm street, where they 
built Their next move was into Henry street, where they also built, 
but afterward sold their synagogue to another Jewish congregation, 
and in May, 1850, dedicated a new house in Norfolk street. After 
nearly a quarter of a century they removed to the splendid temple 
on Lexington avenue, which was dedicated September 12th, 1873, 
and cost about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The united 
congregations took the name of the Temple Beth El, and Dr. Einhorn 
was elected to the position of rabbi. 

Dr. Einhorn is the author of the " Olath Tamid" a prayer book, 
and the •' Ner Tumid" a religious book. The first passed through 
three editions in the Hebrew and German, when Dr. Einhorn issued 
it in English translation, with some emendations. Another work by 
him in the German is entitled " Das Princip des Mosaismus." Many 
of his sermons have been issued in pamphlet form also in the 
German. 

Dr. Einhorn is of the medium height and sparely made. His 
head, though not large, shows very decided intellectual development, 
and his eyes, especially, light his face with a striking and pleasing in- 
telligence. In his manners he is polite ; but it is always to be ob- 
served that he has the seriousness and reserve common to scholarly 
men. He is circumspect and exact in his own demeanor, and in 
all the duties of life. Consequently those who approach him are 
impressed by the dignity of his bearing as well as his learned and 
exalted character, making his influence very great with all ages and 
classes. 

He is one of the most advanced of the Judaic reformers. In 
Europe his views made a deep impression upon the people, and, as 
has been stated, were thought dangerous to monarchical government 
itself Since his arrival in the United States, he has spoken with 
even more power, and with an enlarged scope of learning, for his 
thoughts were free, and the field grand enough to inspire him for 
the utmost efforts by both energy and mind. A man who was 
willing to sacrifice so much for his doctrines at home, and one 
who resolutely undertook a crusade against American slavery under 
the circumstances which he did, has certainly those qualities which 
are most effective in all reform movements. Obstructions, defeats, 
and gloom are all as nothing to the brave and hopeful spirit of a re- 
former, like Dr. Einhorn ; but, on the contrary, act as incentives to a 
stronger courage and a more laborious toil. 

169 



REV. DAVID EINHORN, PH. D. 

Dr. Einliorn is a very interesting preacher. He is not only a 
learned man, but a yevj pious one. Hence he teaches with the largest 
amount of scholarly explanation, and at the same time imparts to all 
that he says the solemn impressiveness belonging to religious truths. 
His manner and tone are characterized by much earnestness, showing 
the deepest conviction in regard to his subject on his own part, and 
his heartfelt desire to make the occasion profitable to those who hear 
him. Modest in the actions of his whole life, and seeking only the 
highest religious development of the Jewish people, and indirectly of 
the community at large, still his profound erudition and his great 
success entitle him to the wide fame which he enjoys. 

170 



REY. JOSEPH F. ELDER, 

PASTOR OF THE MADISOIST A.VEIVTJE BAPTIST 
CHURCH, NEW YORK.. 




BV. JOSEPH F. ELDER was born in Portland, Maine, 
March 10th, 1839. His academic studies were at the 
Portland High School, where at an early age he gave evi- 
dence of considerable mental capacity. In 1860 he was 
\yp graduated at Colby University, afc Waterville, Maine, which 
was then known by the name of Waterville College. After 
leaving college he engaged in teaching. In the autumn of 1861 he 
was licensed to preach by the Free-street Baptist Church of Portland, 
of which he was a member. Subsequently he took a theological 
course at the Rochester University, from which institution he was grad- 
uated in 1867. He was ordained and installed pastor of the Baptist 
Church at North Orange, New Jersey, May 1st, 1867, where he re- 
mained until called to his present pastorship in New York. He en- 
tered upon the discharge of his duties as pastor of the Madison -avenue 
Baptist Church January 1st, 1869. 

This congregation is a union of the Oliver-street congregation with 
one having originally the title of the Madison-avenue Baptist Church. 
They occupy one of the handsomest church edifices in the city on the 
corner of Madison avenue and Thirty -first street. It is built of brick, 
with a square tower rising about twenty-five feet from the front The 
galleries are supported by a series of Corinthian columns, and the 
whole arrangement of the interior is peculiar and tasteful. One thous- 
and two hundred persons can be accommodated with seats. A ques- 
tion has arisen as to which of the original congregations hold the title 
to the property, which has been for some time before the courts for 
settlement. It is merely a legal point, not involving any change or 
unpleasantness in the present congregation. Rev. Dr. Henry C Wes- 
ton, who, in 1859, had been called from Peoria, Illinois, to the Oliver- 
street Church, became the pastor of the new Madison avenue, and so 
remained until 1868, when he accepted the presidency of a theologi- 
cal seminary. The pulpit was vacant until Mr. Elder was called 



REV. JOSEPH F. ELDER. 

Mr. Elder is of the average height, with an equally proportioned 
and erect figure. He has a head of fair size and form, with the in- 
tellectual peculiarities most strikingly developed. His features are 
regular, and expressive of amiability and decision of character. His 
manners are courteous, but not warm. In fact, for a young man, he 
has a great deal of dignity. He is composed and assured, and seems 
always to think before he acts or speaks. He shows stamina of char- 
acter and much self-possession, but no forwardness. Let him advance 
an opinion, and he will maintain it with an intellectual comprehen- 
sion which no one can dispute ; or give him a work to perform, and 
he will display marked resources of judgment and nerve. But in the 
same instances you will be quite as much struck with the entire 
modesty of his personal bearing, and his disposition to underrate rather 
than to magnify his own ability and labors. He has ambition, but 
it is not a mere reckless zeal for position and power. It is under the 
government of both good-breeding and sound reason. 

Never ashamed of his powers, and never feeble in his mode of ac- 
tion, still he is not disposed to thrust himself into prominence. As 
you look into his countenance and notice his half-averted eyes, or 
listen to his calm, measured utterances, you can have no doubt as to 
these traits of his character. Cheerful in disposition, and interesting 
in conversation, he is sufficiently engaging to give zest to all inter- 
course with him ; but you become convinced that one great merit of 
the man is in an inner nature of high moral and intellectual man- 
hood. 

He is a very satisfactory preacher. He has an earnestness and 
sincerity in his words and manner which greatly impress the hearer. 
The oftener you hear the better you are pleased. He does not tire 
you with old sayings, but he has fresh ideas, and genuine heart and 
truth in the application which he makes of them. You see that he is 
a student and a thinker, for all that he writes or says has the strength 
of scholarly thought about it, and you see that he is a keen ob- 
server of men and the world's affairs. 

The promise of his future is brilliant for himself and the denomin- 
ation to which he belongs. Industrious, well-balanced in mind, dis- 
creet, and conscientious in conduct, he may safely be trusted with the 
duties and obligations of the conspicuous places of the ministry. 
Conceit, pride, and public applause will never overthrow him. Strict 
in principle and wise in judgment, he will stand strong in every step 
to a fame, won by great, though always modest talents. 

172 



KEY. WILLIAM T. ENYARD, 

PASTOR OE THE NORTH REFORMED CHURCH. 

BROOKLYN. 




EV. WILLIAM T. ENYABD was born in the city of 
New York, in August, 1836. He prepared for college 
at the Academy at West Bloomfield, New Jersey ; was 
graduated at Eutger's College, New Brunswick, in 1855, 

and at the Theological Seminary at the same place in 1858. 

In the summer of thj same year he was ordained, and in- 
stalled as the pastor of St. Paul's Beformed Church, Mott Haven, 
Westchester County, New York, where he remained seven years. 
One of the interesting circumstances of Mr. Enyard's ordination and 
installation was that the charge to the pastor was delivered by the 
late Bev. Dr. James B. Hardenburg, who had baptized him in his 
infancy, as his parents were members of the old Franklin Street Be- 
formed Dutch Church, of which Dr. Hardenburg was so long the 
pastor. Mr. Enyard's ministerial labors gave great promise from the 
outset. A young man of marked talents, unwearying energy, and 
popular manners, his work was earnest and efficacious in the highest 
degree. At length he received a call to the pastorship of the North 
Beformed Church, located on Clermont Avenue, Brooklyn, as the 
successor of the distinguished (now deceased) Bev. Dr. Anthony 
Elmendorf, which he accepted. His official connection with this 
church commenced in August, 1865, and on Tuesday evening, Oc- 
tober 24th, 1865, he was duly installed. 

The North Beformed Church is the result of the pious labors of 
Dr. Elmendorf. In 1848 he accepted a call to Brooklyn from the 
Bedford Beformed Dutch Church. After a service of two years and 
a half he resigned the pastorship, and the organization was subse- 
quently altogether abandoned. Dr. Elmendorf now entered upon 
what was the great work of his life. In March, 1851, he commenced 
religious services in a small frame building in Adelphi Street, which 
he had hired at a weekly rent of five dollars : and, in the following 

173 



REV. "WILLIAM T. ENYARD. 

May, the North Reformed Dutch Church was organized, with thirty- 
seven members. At the period named, the population of that section 
of Brooklyn was exceedingly small and scattered, and the prospects 
of the new congregation for several years were exceedingly unfavor- 
able. It was nothing but the devoted self-sacrifice and indomitable 
perseverance of the pastor that kept the enterprise from coming to a 
premature termination. After all the expenses were paid, Dr. Elm- 
endorfs salary for the first year was twenty-seven dollars and fifty 
cents. He was driven to the necessity of mortgaging his private 
property. He stated to the writer hereof, just prior to his death, in 
alluding to these trials, that at times he was discouraged to perfect 
sickness of heart, yet never to utter despondency. At length lots 
were procured, and on May 30th, 1852, a chapel was dedicated. Affairs 
were now in such a condition that he received a regular call to be the 
pastor of the congregation, and his installation took place July -ith, 
1852. He had been invited to a flourishing church in Philadelphia, 
but he declined the invitation. In 1853 his health failed him, and 
he went abroad, spending six months in agreeable travel in Great 
Britain and on the continent 

The corner-stone of a fine church edifice on Clermont Avenue was 
laid June 25th, 1855, and the church was dedicated on the 27th of the 
following December. The property cost about thirty -five thousand 
dollars. An encumbrance of five thousand dollars remained until 
January, 1864, when it was discharged, leaving the church free from 
debt. Within a recent period, sine - the calling of Mr. Enyard, the 
church has been much improved, both in the exterior and interior. 
A large sum was spent in these improvements, making the building 
compare favorably with any of the other fine churches for which 
Brooklyn is noted. 

During Dr. Elmendorf's ministry, the number of members reached 
as high as nearly five hundred, and the Sunday-School had between 
six and seven hundred children. Two remarkable revivals took 
place, and seventy-five persons were admitted at one communion. 
Broken in health, Dr. Elmendorf retired from the pastorship in May, 
1865, and in the following February closed his noble life in a 
Christian death. There are now about five hundred and forty 
members, and the Sunday-School has between four and five hundred 
children. 

Mr. Enyard is tall, well-proportioned, and erect. He moves with 
a q uick stride and a firm step, and it is easy to detect that he is a 

174 



EEV. WILLIAM T. ENYAED. 

man of an earnest heart and untiring energy in all that be undertakes- 
His head is large in the intellectual part, with delicate and expressive 
features. His complexion is rather pale, as his application to study 
is constant and severe. Few persons have more agreeable manners. 
He is frank and genial witb all. There is no departure from a proper 
ministerial dignity, but he has a most happy tact in rendering all 
personal intercourse pleasing in the extreme. In truth, he is always 
found an illustration of those lines of Pope, who describes the accom- 
plished man as 

"Correct with spirit, eloquent with ease, 
Intent to reason, or polite to please." 

His conversation is flowing and interesting. A religious life has not 
robbed him of a particle of a natural vivacity and cheerfulness that 
belong to him ; and, consequently, he gives life and animation to 
every social scene in which he takes part. And still, he is well 
schooled in propriety. He is never led away into compromises of 
dignity, or of forgetfulness of his sacred calling, but always commands 
the utmost respect from old and young. The fact is, he is not only 
an amiable, but a strong character. Men with the weight of years 
and far more experience, have no advantage of him in resolution and 
judgment. All his impulses of both mind and heart are under per- 
fect government. He speaks his thoughts on the instant, and he acts 
as if from mere impulse, but he is really thoroughly reflective in re- 
gard to both words and acts. His mind is keen, rapid, and far-seeing ; 
and in small as well as great matters controls the entire man. Well 
informed on learned and ordinary topics, a close and discriminating 
observer of men and events, amiable and gentle in all his ways, Mr. 
Enyard is a person well calculated to win esteem and influence in 
private life. Those who come in contact with him are refreshed in 
heart and enlightened in mind. Impressed with his personal quali- 
ties, they cannot fail likewise to respect and admire him in his pro- 
fessional character. 

As a preacher he has always enjoyed a wide popularity. In his 
sermons he gives solid food for reflection, and at the same time shows 
a chaste and animated fancy. He is fully alive to the progressive 
and practical spirit of the period in which he lives, and though he 
received his early training under the most old-time theological influ- 
ences, he is not willing to be a dead man in a living age. His youth, 
his ambition, and his intelligence all lead him to a mental and active 
alliance with the real issues of life as he finds it about him. Hence 

175 



REV. WILLIAM T. ENYARD. 

while no man can be more ardent and explicit in the discussion of 
topics of doctrine, his chief excellence is in grasping the moral and 
other questions which relate to the joys and ills of daily life and the 
public need. You are invariably struck with several things in these 
sermons. First, that the preacher has a great heart in sympathy with 
his fellow-men ; second, that he is bold and outspoken in his opin- 
ions; and third, that a devout piety governs all his views and actions. 
He writes in those plain, forcible terms, that are unmistakable in their 
meaning and application, and he gives to every utterance the earnest- 
ness and fervor which spring from heartfelt conviction. His sermons 
draw men together in fellowship by interests perhaps before un- 
known. He opens the heart of the hearer to nobler emotions, and 
softens and strengthens the feelings for better and higher purposes. 
He illuminates Christian principles, he makes clear the responsibili- 
ties of man to his fellow and his God, and he tries human motives 
and actions by the scale of justice, virtue, and mercy. A man who 
preaches from these standpoints cannot preach in vain. He stretches 
out a net into which the human feet must become entangled, and he 
utters an appeal before which the human heart is melted and won. 

Mr. Em^ard speaks with eloquence and effectiveness. His attitude 
is erect, and his glance is unflinching before the multitude. He be- 
gins in a moderate tone, but with entire self-possession. But you 
soon see the fire that is in him ; there is no indifference and no mo- 
notony ; he feels every word, and each sentiment produces a new 
tone and its appropriate gesture. His voice is strong, but he modu- 
lates it with great effect. In prayer and in reading it is equally fine. 
Its effect upon the largest audience is magnetic. Mild and yet vig- 
orous, sympathetic and yet decided, it at once arrests attention, and 
the interest of the hearer is continued to the end. His delivery has 
no appearance of study, though he has undoubtedly found his models 
in the best exponents of oratory. 

From these statements it will be seen that Mr. Enyard is a man 
of superior talents, and of rare usefulness in his denomination and 
the community at large. A commissioned teacher of divine things, 
he is not less a judicious leader of the people in every other good 
work. Strict and jealous in his faith, exact and faithful in the line 
of duty, just and pure in his personal character, he meets all the re- 
quirements of his profession, and stands before his fellow-men a 
bright example of individual excellence. 

176 



REV. FERDINAND C. EWER, D. D., 

RECTOR OF ST. IGjVA.TITJS EMSCOFA.L 
CHURCH, 2VIEW YORK. 




1 EV. DE. FERDINAND C. EWER was born in Nantucket, 
May 22d, 1826. His parents were Unitarians, but by the 
time be was seventeen years of age he had given the sub- 
ject of Unitarianism, and, indeed, the whole field of fheol- 
a careful investigation, which resulted in his becoming an 
Episcopalian, and he was baptized at Trinity Church, Nantucket, 
in 1843. He was graduated at Harvard University in the clas3 of 
1848. During his term at the University, an imprudent course of 
reading led him to embrace infidelity. In April, 1849, he went to 
San Francisco, where, in 1852, he again addressed himself to a serious 
and prolonged examination of the claims of the Bible, and finally 
found himself restored to his earlier and happier trust in divine rev- 
elation. He shortly commenced his studies for the Episcopal minis- 
try under the direction of Bishop Kipp, and on Palm Sunday, April 
5th, 1857, was ordained deacon, and became assistant to Bishop Kipp, 
as rector of Grace Church, San Francisco. On the resignation of the 
Bishop as rector in December, Dr. Ewer was elected to the position, 
and on the 17th of January, was ordained priest. In 1850, by reason 
of ill-health, he offered his resignation, the acceptance of which was 
declined, and leave of absence for one year granted to him. He 
reached New York in May, and, by advice of his physicians, de- 
termined not to return to California. His resignation of his charge 
in San Francisco having been accepted, he became assistant of Rev. 
Dr. Grallaudet, at St. Ann's Church, New York, when he was called 
to the rectorship of Christ Church, corner of Fifth avenue and Thirty- 
fifth street. 

Dr. Ewer received the degree of A. B. from Harvard University, 
in 1848 ; S. T. D. or D. D. from Columbia College, in 1867, and 
A. M. from Harvard University, in 1868. 

In the latter part of 1868, he preached a course of eight sermons 

177 



REV. FERDINAND C. EWER, D. D. 

on the " Failure of Protestanism," which led to much discussion, and 
were afterward published in book form by the Appletons. Later 
Dr. Ewer took a position among the ritualistic class, in the Episcopal 
Church, to which he still adheres. He has been violently attacked 
by both Protestants and Eomanists. The Bishop of Connecticut 
threatened, in an official letter, to try him for a sermon preached in 
that diocese, in which Dr. Ewer spoke of seven sacraments, and par- 
ticularly of penance. This caused a correspondence, in which Dr. 
Ewer claimed that the Anglican Church held to the seven sacra- 
ments, and gave commands to her priests, under certain circum- 
stances, to administer the sacrament of penance, and had, indeed, al- 
ways advised her people to use that sacrament. Subsequently the 
Bishop withdrew from his position to try Dr. Ewer, and friends of the 
latter published the whole correspondence in pamphlet form. 

Internal difficulties in Christ Church congregation, induced Dr. 
Ewer to resign the rectorship in the latter part of 1872. As soon as 
he did so, parishioners of that parish left it, organized the new parish 
of St. Ignatius, and gave him a call to it. A majority of his old 
communicants then joined the new organization. A church edifice 
was purchased on West Fortieth street, where worship, according to 
the high church ritual, is regularly conducted. 

While in California, Dr. Ewer was a pioneer in the establish- 
ment of newspaper and periodical literature. He founded the Pacific 
News, a daily paper ; the Sacramento Transcript, also a daily journal ; 
the Sunday Dispatch, in San Fraucisco, and in January, 1851, the 
Pioneer, the first magazine ever published in the State. He married 
in California, in December, 1854. 

At the invitation of the Seventh Regiment, Dr. Ewer delivei'ed 
an oration at the Academy of Music, on the 22d of February, 1862, 
taking for his theme the " Wond's Obligations to War." The oration 
was most masterly ana eloquent. He has also delivered orations, 
addresses, and sermons on other occasions of public interest. 

Dr. Ewer is of tall stature, well-proportioned, and erect. His head 

is large, with regular and intellectual features. He wears long 

whiskers, which somewhat lengthen the face, and long, straight, dark 

hair grows in much abundance on his head. His countenance is full 

of expression — full of the light of the brilliant mind within — full of 

the language of a kindly, upright heart, and full of the glow of the 

energy which is inborn to the man. Ripe in scholarship, enthusiastic 

in life's battles, warm and genial in his nature, his characteristics are 

178 



EEV. FERDINAND C. EWER, D. D. 

those which captivate the intelligence, quicken the resolution, and 
open the fountains of esteem. In his manners he is cordial and sin- 
cere ; in private life he exhibits, in its largest degree, the polish of 
social culture, and in his public station he reaches the highest stand- 
ard of ministerial ability and usefulness. His conversation is fluent 
and animated, showing great familiarity with religious and secular 
topics, and abounding in beauties of thought, and manly, liberal sen- 
timents. 

Dr. Ewer is a powerful and finished writer. Once an editor, he 
wields a practiced pen, and delights in the task of composition. In 
his varied and always busy life, the themes of his pen have been 
widely different ; but in all his writings there is to be seen the same 
originality of idea, pointedness of meaning, and eloquence of diction. 
His sermons are characterized by a particularly impassioned fervor, 
and a marked comprehensiveness of argument. And while every 
line swells with the beatings of his own earnest heart, every precept 
is taken for a lamp to his own feet. 

There are clergymen who think that the announcement of the 
truth in the simplest and most unassuming forms of speech and man- 
ner is all that their congregation can require. Engaged in a conflict 
with a foe who appeals with consummate art to every human emotion, 
still they do not esteem it necessary to kindle the same instincts with 
the same flame of enthusiasm. They preach to benumbed souls and 
sleeping congregations, and wonder that their work is so barren, 
knowing not that it is because the susceptibilities of their hearers are 
never aroused. Mr. Ewer's policy is different : he takes the homely, 
oft-repeated truths, and decks them in new garments ; he crowns 
them with flowers ; he displays them so that their new glory suffuses 
the careless mind and awakens the dormant heart. Most imposing 
in his pulpit presence, speaking in a clear, musical voice, collected 
and perfect in his declamation and gesticulation, every word that he 
utters speeds like an electric shock to some sensibility, and every 
action is profoundly expressive of his meaning. He is an orator, with 
inspiring words and startling attitudes which sway and animate and 
control the multitude ; he is a Christian warrior, meeting the adver- 
sary in glittering armor, and with a gleaming blade; he is the faith- 
ful servant who, with mind, heart, eloquence, and eyery power of his 
nature is gaining treasure of souls, for the days of the Master's reckon- 
ing 179 



REV. FREDERICK A. FARLEY, D. D., 



OF BROOKIiYN. 




EV. DR. FREDERICK A. FARLEY was born in Boston 
June 25th, 1800. He was graduated at Harvard Univer- 
sity in 1818, and, after studying law with Hon. William 
Sullivan, was admitted to the Boston bar in 1821. Sub- 
sequently graduated at the Divinity School, Cambridge, he 
was first settled as a pastor over the Westminster Congrega- 
tional Unitarian Church of Providence, September 10th, 1828. Dr. 
Channing preached the ordination sermon, which was one of his 
most remarkable efforts. Here Dr. Farley remained until called to 
Brooklyn in 1841. He has published a volume of lectures, entitled 
" Unitarianism Defined;" and, in joint authorship with Rev. Dr. 
Osgood, a liturgic service-book, entitled " Christian Worship," and 
the " Vesper Book," being the vesper service from the former volume. 
He is a learned man, an eloquent preacher, and an esteemed and 
public-spirited citizen of Brooklyn. Denied the use of a church for 
his installation on his first coming, he has since taken a leading part 
in directing her intellectual and social character, and advanced a 
humble body of despised believers to a powerful and respected con- 
gregation. 

The earliest organization of Unitarians in Brooklyn took place 
in 1833. The First Society worshiped in Classical Hall, Wash- 
ington street, and was under the care of Rev. David H. Barlow. Four 
years later, Rev. F. W. Holland became the pastor, and the place of 
worship was changed to a church in Adams street, purchased of the 
Presbyterians. A Second Society was formed in January, 1841, 
which met at the Brooklyn Institute, where Rev. Frederick A. Farley 
commenced to officiate August 1st, 1841. In the following Decem- 
ber, Mr. Holland resigned his charga On the first Sunday in April, 
1842, the two societies united in worship at the Brooklyn Institute, 
leading to their consolidation under the title of the First Congrega^ 

180 



REV. FEEDEEICK A. FARLEY, D. D. 

tional Unitarian Society of Brooklyn. On the 31st of May, Mr. 
Farley was called as the pastor of the new organization, a new election 
having taken place at his own desire. A site was purchased on the 
corner of Pierrepont street and Monroe Place, and a beautiful Gothic 
brown-stone church erected, which was consecrated as the " Church 
of the Saviour" April 24th, 1844. Mr. Farley's installation had 
been deferred, and now took place on the day following the consecra- 
tion of the church, Dr. Dewey preaching the sermon. The edifice 
was erected during a period of financial depression, and the cost of 
the entire property was only about forty thousand dollars. "Within 
a few years the entire debt has been paid, and there is a surplus fund. 
The congregation is one of the most wealthy in Brooklyn, and is 
composed of about two hundred and fifty communicants and one 
hundred and fifty families. On the 22d of March, 1863, Dr. Farley 
resigned, having reached the ripe age of nearly sixty-three years, and 
the twenty-second of his highly successful ministry. His resignation 
was accepted with reluctance, and only when it was found impossible 
to move him from his purpose of retirement. A generous pecuniary 
provision was made for his suppor , and an eligible pew placed at 
his disposal. By request of the congregation he remained in tem- 
porary charge until the 1st of November, when his farewell sermon 
was preached. Dr. Farley now occasionally supplies the pulpits of 
his absent brethren. He has also given some readings, much to the 
pleasure of large and cultivated audiences. 



181 



REV. THOMAS FARRELL, 

PASTOR OE THE CHURCH OE ST. JOSEPH, 

(CATHOLIC,) NEW YORK. 




[EV. THOMAS FAEEELL was born at Longford, Ire- 
land, in the year 1820, and came to the United States 
in his childhood. He was graduated at Mount St. Mary's 
College, Emmettsburg, Maryland, and was ordained priest 
in 1847. At first he was engaged in missionary work. He 
then became pastor of St. Paul's church, Harlem, and afterward 
of St Mary's in Grand street In all of these positions he was dis- 
tinguished for an earnestness and piety which gave him an unusual 
measure of success. 

He was appointed pastor of the church of St. Joseph, corner of 
Sixth avenue and Washington place, in 1857. During the sixteen 
years which he has now occupied the pastorship of this old and in- 
fluential congregation, his course has been consistent with his pre- 
vious character, and he has established a reputation as a priest and 
scholar equal to any of his clerical cotemporaries in the city. He 
became conspicuous at the time of the civil war for his earnest and 
uncompromising advocacy of the Union cause, and his hostility to 
human slavery. 

An authentic account of Father Farrell says : — " As a scholar and 
theologian, he is ranked among the foremost divines of the Catholic 
church in the United States. As a preacher, he belongs more to the 
solid than the brilliant order. As a great lover of truth, he is known 
and beloved by men of all denominations for his noble qualities of 
heart and mind. Among his brethren of the clergy he is looked up 
to with the greatest respect and affection ; so much so, that it is re- 
markable how many go to him for counsel and advice, and what im- 
plicit faith they place in his judgment and understanding." 

Father Farrell has a long, narrow face, with a high forehead. The 

182 



EEV. THOMAS FASEELL. 

expression is calm, serious, and reflective. His manners have the mod 
esty and gentleness befitting the priestly character. He is thoroughly 
religious, and elevated in all his feelings and opinions. A patient life- 
work, without show or thought of himself, but one in which he should 
do the utmost for his faith and his fellow men, has been the sole 
purpose of his existence. No man can charge that he has fallen short 
of his whole duty ; and, with this consciousness, he is passing serenely 
onward with the quick revolving years. 

183 



! 



REV. ISAAC FERRIS, D.D., LLD.,* 

EMERITUS CHANCELLOR OF THE UNIVEBSITY 
OF THE OITY OF NEW YORK. 




EV. DR. FERRIS, Emeritus Chancellor of the Univer- 
sity of the City of New York, was born in New York, 
in October, 1798. His ancestors were early settlers at 
Fail-field, Connecticut He was graduated at Columbia 
College, New York, when not quite eighteen years of age. 
He became a teacher of the classics, but after a year spent 
in this manner be entered the Theological Seminary of the 
Reformed Dutch Church at New Brunswick, having determined upon 
a ministerial career. A portion of his theological studies was pur- 
sued under the distinguished Rev. Dr. John M. Mason, of the Pres- 
byterian Church. In May, 1820, when something past his twenty- 
first year, he was licensed to preach, and already gave evidence of 
unusual talents. He was ordained and installed pastor of the Re- 
formed Dutch Church at New Brunswick, April 17th, 1821, and was 
very successful in it In the autumn of 1824 he became pastor of 
the Second Dutch Church in Albany, where he remained eleven 
years. He had always given the heartiest co-operation in all educa- 
tional movements, and during his residence in Albany was chosen 
President of the celebrated Female Academy at that place, which 
was the model, and, in fact, the parent of most of the other institu- 
tions of the kind in New York and Brooklyn. In 1836 he was 
called to the Market street Dutch Church. New York, where for 
many years he conducted a most efficient and successful ministry. 
He found the congregation much reduced by internal differences and 
burdened by debt, but he succeeded in restoring harmony, increasing 
the body numerically, and in paying off the entire indebtedness. 

* While our volume was in press, Dr. Ferris departed this life at Koselle, N. J., 
on Monday, June 16th, 1873, aged seventy-five years, and was buried from the South 
Reformed Church, New York, on the 20th of June. 

184 



REV. ISAAC FERRIS, D. D., LL.D. 

Ever on the alert to further the cause of education, he induced 
the late William B. Crosby, a wealthy resident of the Seventh ward, 
to make a gift of valuable property in Madison street, where was 
founded, in 1838, the afterward famous school, known as the 
Rutgers Female Institute. As President of this institution, Dr. Ferris 
raised it to the highest point of success, and gave it an unequaled 
reputation all over the land for its superior system of instruction. 
At a later period he withdrew from the Rutgers Institute and founded 
the Ferris Institute. 

In 1852 a movement was made to invite the late Rev. Dr. 
Bethune to the Chancellorship of the University of the City of New 
York, but he declined the position, and urged that it should be given 
to Dr. Ferris. Accordingly, in November of that year, Dr. Ferris 
was appointed Chancellor, and his acceptance was hailed with great 
satisfaction by all the friends of the institution. The institution was 
pecuniarily involved to the extent of about one hundred thousand 
dollars, but by the most earnest and untiring efforts on the part of 
the new Chancellor these liabilities were in six months entirely pro- 
vided for. The final payment of the entire indebtedness was made in 
1854. Later, the University, through renewed efforts on the part of 
Dr. Ferris, received several liberal benefactions. Two gentlemen of 
the Council gave twenty-five thousand each, Mr. Loring Andrews 
gave one hundred thousand, and other gentlemen various sums. 
Thus six professorships were endowed. 

The large amount of over a quarter of a million of dollars was 
secured to the University during the term of Chancellor Ferris. 

But this was not all. Immediately after the payment of the debt 
he submitted to the Council a plan for the expansion of the Univer- 
sity course, the result of which was the establishment of a School of 
Art, one of Analytical and Practical Chemistry, one of Civil En- 
gineering, and the revival of that of Law ; that of Medicine having 
been in operation since 1841. These departments were established, 
and the subsequent endowments secured their permanent efficiency. 

In 1870, after eighteen years of faithful service, and finding the 
University on a secure foundation for all time, Dr. Ferris retired 
from the active duties of Chancellor, and was succeeded by the Rev. 
Dr. Howard Crosby. He is now Emeritus Chancellor, and receives 
three thousand dollars per annum for life. . On his retirement an 
address was presented to him, signed by a large number of the 
distinguished Alumni, which closes in these complimentary terms : 

185 



REV. ISAAC FERRIS, D. D., LL.D. 

"Tour wise and considerate care has resulted in a decrease of daily labor for the 
professors, and an increase of more than a hundred per cent, to their salaries: has 
opened facilities for the incoming of students from adjacent neighborhoods, by 
which the number of 'undergraduates has decidedly increased ; has sought and ob- 
tained the material for replenishing the scanty means of indigent students ; and over 
against the facilities derived from vast endowments or legislated immunities by rival 
institutions, you have administered the affairs of the University with sagacious 
fidelity, shrinking from no toil or responsibility, and refusing the indulgence of the 
rest which was your just due. 

"You retire by your own voluntary act from your eminent position with this 
noble record. 

"The undersigned Alumni express to you hereby their sense of your worth, their 
admiration and appreciation of your success, their gratification at the procedure of 
the Council in providing for the comfort of your remaining days, their personal 
affection, and their prayer for Heaven's best benediction upon you." 

It may be mentioned that if Dr. Ferris has one characteristic 
more than another, it is regard and labor for the Sunday School 
cause. For over thirty years he has been President of the New 
York Sunday School Union. He preached an eloquent historical 
sermon on its fiftieth anniversary. 

He also preached the semi-centennial sermon of the American 
Bible Society. In 1871 he preached a memorial discourse at the 
Eeformed Church in New Brunswick on the fiftieth anniversary of 
the commencement of his ministry at that place. 

His publications consist chiefly of numerous sermons and ad- 
dresses. He received the degree of D. D. from Union College in 
1834, and that of LL. D. from Columbia College in 1851. 

Dr. Ferris is tall, with a well-proportioned figure, now slightly 
bent with advancing years. His head is round and finely developed 
in the intellectual sections. He has a broad, high, noble looking 
brow, and his countenance is radiant with intellectuality, benevo- 
lence, and the higher traits of manly character. His features are 
regular; he has calm, expressive eyes, and his hair is silver gray. 
In'his face you may read his heart and character at a glance ; it con- 
ceals nothing, but, on the contrary, reveals everything. You see that 
he has a firm and even heroic purpose ; that when he puts his hand 
to the plow he turns not back ; that he has a most exalted regard for 
truth and honor in all the affairs and duties of life ; that he is not 
only an upright, but a moral and holy man ; and finally that he has a 
benevolence of heart and a serenity of temper which are not less 
natural to him than his gifts of intellect Greatly absorbed as he is 

in his duties as an instructor, and in the manifold claims upon his 

186 



REV. ISAAC FERRIS, D. D., LL.D. 

time by the many educational and religious enterprises with which 
he is connected, still he is always a genial companion with all ages 
of persons. Cheerful, fully alive to all the charms of social inter- 
course, and withal so full of instruction, so perfect as an example of 
Christian manhood, association with him is at once delightful and 
profitable. 

The phrenological character of Dr. Ferris has been given as 
follows : " In Dr. Ferris an air of serenity prevails. This distin- 
guished man should be specially known for his mildness and' calm 
dignity. There is considerable breadth between the anterior portions 
of the side head, which shows that he is not deficient in expedient, 
but rather disposed to arrange, construct, and adjust carefully, even 
with mechanical precision, whatever he may undertake. His head is 
large at Benevolence, and the whole forehead about the median line 
is strongly marked. Accuracy of statement should characterize his 
discourse, while a strict adherence to consistency would be manifest 
in all his operations. Firmness of purpose and thoroughness in exe- 
cution of his designs are also well indicated" Dr. Ferris is one of 
the ablest of living scholars, and what is more, is one of the most 
practical and hence successful instructors of our times. Poets are 
bom, and so are teachers, and quite as many mistake their calling in 
one vocation as the other. We call Dr. Ferris a born teacher. His 
vast mind grasps everything, but it is neither secretive of his love, 
nor does it fail to make its instruction clear and penetrating to in- 
ferior and less learned intelligence. His elucidation is as plain as 
noon-day. The lofty heights of erudition are to be reached by well 
defined paths, and the student has only to use his own intelligence 
and proper diligence, and feel the incentive of ambition, and success 
is certain. As a preacher of the gospel, Dr. Ferris has been equally 
successful. His whole ministry was a triumph. He had much to 
test his capabilities in every respect, but in both spiritual and tem- 
poral things he was true to every duty and equal to every trust His 
manner of preaching is calm and impressive. An able thinker and 
writer, there is great power and comprehensiveness in his matter, 
and his collected and dignified delivery give it additional effective- 
ness. The sincere, devout tone of the speaker, and his venerable 
appearance, also lend an irresistible fascination to the learned and 
holy words. 

187 



REV. EDWARD 0. FLAGG, D. D., 

RECTOR OI< THE CHURCH OF THE RESDRREC. 
TIOJV, 3VEW YORK!. 




>EV. EDWARD 0. FLAGG, D. D, was born in George- 
town, South Carolina, December 13th, 1825. His grand- 
mother was cousin to General Francis Marion, and his 
ancestry is to be traced to other noted revolutionary 
stock, as well as to distinguished modern families of South 
Carolina and Connecticut. His father, who was the half- 
brother of the celebrated Washington Alston, married a lady 
of New Haven, and was mayor of that city, and also the edi- 
tor of a leading newspaper of the State. After spending nearly 
two years at Trinity College, Hartford, where he stood among 
the first in his class, the son continued his academic studies 
under private instructors. At his maturity he was converted, 
and commenced preparations for the Episcopal ministry, under 
Rev. Dr. Croswell, of New Haven. In his twenty-fourth year 
he was ordained deacon, and the following year became priest 
He first settled as assistant to Rev. Dr. Morgan, then at Christ 
Church, Norwich, and now of St. Thomas's, New York ; and in 1850, 
on the organization of the new parish of Trinity, at the same place, 
was called as the rector. In the meantime he had started a church 
at Yantic, which has become a flourishing parish. He remained at 
Trinity for three years and a half, when he found it necessary to 
i eek a milder climate for his wife, whose health was seriously im- 
paired. During his ministrations the parish had increased from 
forty or fifty persons to some six hundred. His next position 
was assoeiate rector of St. Paul's Church, Baltimore, Md., which 
he left after six months, as his wife's health did not improve. 
Proceeding to New Orleans, he took temporary charge of Trin- 
ity Church, declining to become the rector, as his movements 
depended entirely upon the health of his wife ; and, finally, by 
reason of her increased indisposition, he again came North 

188 




S> . M 



W 



REV. EDWARD O. FLAGG-, D. D. 



He was offered six thousand dollars per annum to remain, 
and was succeeded by the late Bishop (General) Polk. In July, 
1854, he accepted a call to St. Paul's Church, Paterson, New Jersey, 
at which place he suffered the loss of his wife and a child. He re 
signed in November, 1856, and went abroad, spending nine months 
in European travel. On his return he was called to All Saints' 
Church, New York, where he continued until the autumn of 1861. 
Abandoning a design of again going abroad, he opened Trenor's 
Hall, corner of Broadway and Thirty-fourth street, as a new place 
of Episcopal worship. The undertaking prospered. A parish, to 
be known as the Church of the Resurrection, was organized ; and 
in the Spring of 1862 the church in Thirty-fourth street, formerly 
occupied by Rev. Mr. Corej's Baptist congregation, was permanently 
occupied, the property, including a rectory, having been obtained 
for twenty-five thousand dollars. The congregation at length resold 
this property, and built on the corner of Madison Avenue and 
Forty-seventh street. Impaired health caused the rector's absence 
in Europe for not quite a year. During this time, and for a term 
subsequently, the church edifice was rented to other congregations. 
On Dr. Flagg's return to the United States, he became a supply for 
three months in Hudson, New York, and for a year at St. Mark's 
Church, New York City. He then renewed regular pastoral labors 
in a hall in the upper part of the city. 

Owing to the encroachments of the Grand Central Depot upon 
the Forty-seventh street property — also a heavy indebtedness rest- 
ing upon the same — it was deemed advisable to enter upon a pro- 
posed exchange for a church edifice in Eighty-fifth street, held as 
a mission by Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, Jun. A consolidation has 
thus been effected with what was once St. Paul's Church, Yorkville, 
but which is now known as the Church of the Resurrection. Work 
in the new field has been commenced under flattering auspices. 

During the intermission from regular duty Dr. Flagg was offered 
the chaplaincy of the Ninth Regiment N. Y. N G. Hoping to 
exercise a salutary Christian influence in his association with the 
members, he accepted the position. He officiated on several occa- 
sions of much public interest 

His sermon over Wyatt and Page, members of the regiment, who 
fell in the riot of the 12th of July, was a brilliant and patriotic 
effort. He spoke from the text, " The Lord's voice crieth unto the 

189 



KEV. EDWARD O. FLAGG, D. D. 

city ;" and in the course of the sermon gave utterance to the fol- 
lowing significant expressions : 

"At the same time we make all reasonable concessions in matters of faith and 
conscience, the Lord's voice on the present occasion incites us never to surrender 
our religious liberties. Neither Puritanical nor Popish restrictions should hamper 
us in the same. Our forefathers especially fought and bled for freedom to worship 
God. The incense of such a desire consecrated the forest-wild, while the rock was 
the pulpit canopied by Nature's blue cathedral dome. ' Freedom to Worship God ' 
was lisped in the nursery, chanted in a mother's lullaby, echoing to the embowered 
nave that uttered its monotone on the wild New England coast. The whizzing ball 
of the Revolution baptized the dear-bought truth in the blood of many a foeman. 
Surrender this our heritage, and we surrender everything that is near and dear to 
the American heart. The Stars and Stripes are but a flaunting lie, and should be 
furled with the first public act to such an effect. Mean cravens are they who would 
sacrifice one religious rite to stronger importunity. May every hand that would thus 
profane our ark of national safety forever be made to perish with that of Uzzah. 
Whatever interferes logically with our prerogative here should not for a moment be 
allowed to lift its brazen head — however specious and imposing the pretext. There 
are a great many streams which quench the thirst, but none like yon mountain 
spring which trickles in the upper atmosphere. It is the only pure, gushing, sufficient 
source — and there are many beneficial derived sources of spiritual safety — but none 
like the Book of Books, which every one by its author is requested and privileged to 
read. Thence does the fountain of a Saviour's blood most purely, adequately flow. 
There does a Saviour most effectually touch the sinner's heart, and fill his soul with 
the refreshment of salvation. Who would wish or dare in this land of gospel liberty 
to forbid the invalid, longing soul ? Let not this bread of life — the Bible — be with- 
held from a single hungry mortal. If the Declaration of Independence is to be 
read by all, should that be withheld which afforded us such declaration ? All the 
emancipation of the body is nothing without Christian emancipation —that of the 
spirit ; and cowed, indeed, is he — and no American — who will allow the jewel of his 
being, the conscience, to be fettered, the healthful Word of God to be crippled in 
any of its influences. When freedom to worship God and liberty of conscience are 
taken away, we shall have no liberty whatever left, and we might as well at once 
cringe to the despot of Europe." 

"We make the following extract from one of Dr. Flagg's early 
poems, written on a subject suggested by a lady, a circumstance 
similar to that which led to the composition of Cowper's poem of 
" The Task " : 

" LIFE AS IT IS." 

" Life as it is — a thing of fears, 
A thing of hopes, of smiles, of tears ; 
A blossom which at morning blows, 
A blossom which at evening goes ; 
A flower tinged with beauty's blush, 
Which any thoughtless tread may crush ; 
A sky of azure, fair and bright, 
Which storm-clouds quick obscure from sight ; 
190 



REV. EDWARD O. FLASG, D. D. 

A moonbeam's evanescent play, 
Which ere the day dawn speeds away ; 
A bubble floating on a lake, 
That soon a passing breeze may break ; 
A wave that tosses high and free, 
Then dies upon a tranquil sea. 
Life as it is — a songster proud 
That leaves his perch to seek the cloud ; 
But soon falls low, with flutt'ring wing. 
No more to soar, no more to sing. 
Oh ! fearful art thou, human life — 
Thou fitful thing, thou thing of strife ; 
Wh^ mock us with the promise bright, 
Then leave behind the gloom of night ?" 

Dr. Flagg has married a second time. He received his degree of 
D. D. from the New York University in 1866. He has contributed 
occasionally to the press in both prose and verse, and is a person of 
decided literary and artistic taste. One of his brothers, who is an 
Episcopal minister, is also quite an artist; and another brother is 
Greorge Flagg, a painter of repute. William Flagg is a lawyer and 
author of merit, and Capt. H. C. Flagg, deceased, of the United States 
Navy, was a man of varied abilities. 

Dr. Flagg is of the medium height, well formed, and of a light 
complexion, and has straight brown and gray hair, and wears whis- 
kers. His brow has a somewhat serious expression, which passes 
away however when he is engaged in animated conversation. In 
public there is a great deal of composure, and no little dignity about 
him, but in social intercourse he is more unreserved and free. His 
head and features have every indication of intelligence . and refine- 
ment. It is a countenance which declares a delight in mental and 
cultivated attainments, and it shows a nature quick to feel and ar- 
dent in its action, but well disciplined to manly and Christian pur- 
poses. Turning with natural distaste from all that debases, he is as 
naturally enthusiastic in his desire for that which elevates. Chival- 
ric, high-toned, keenly alive to the requirements of ali manly and 
moral obligations, he makes his deportment and his life a hapj. y min- 
gling of that which is truest in manhood and noblest in duty. He 
is a genial, interesting companion. Frank, animated, cheerful, and 
speaking with a clear understanding of his topic, he is not only a 
most agreeable, but a most capable conversationalist. As he talks 
he evinces a nervous impulsiveness, proceeding sometimes rather 
abruptly to new themes, and always exhibits at once intelligence and 

191 



EEV. EDWARD O FLAGG, D. D. 

sincerity of conviction. His ministerial character is fully evident 
from the direction of his thoughts, but all that is beautiful and true 
in secular things awakens his pleasure and interest 

Dr. Flagg excels as an elocutionist. He has a pure, distinct voice, 
of admirable modulation, gentle and sweet in its softer tones, and 
rich and flexible in their greatest expansion. The falling of peace- 
ful waters or the accord of musical sounds are not more delightful 
to the ear than his clear, emotional pronunciation. Not only does 
every word have its full expression to the hearing, but every senti- 
ment becomes vivid to the feelings. And all ^iis is without any 
appearance of studied effort He has a few appropriate gestures. 

His sermons are well written, and show much diversity of 
thought Some of them are strictly argumentative, dealing in the 
most forcible and keenest logic; others mingle with this a certain 
flow of the imagination, while others again are wholly given to the 
most poetic and tender extremes of religious and moral sentiment 
The mind of the writer is fresh and buoyant — it is aglow with im- 
pressions of beautiful truths and heaven-inspiring hopes, and the call 
to grace is not less chaste in language than it is devout in tone and 
manner. 

192 



REY. CHARLES FLETCHER, 

PRESIDING ELDER OF THE SOUTH EONG 

ISLAND DISTUICT, NEW YORXi EAST 

CONFERENCE. 




EY. CHARLES ELETCHEK was born in Yorkshire, 
near Leeds, England, January 10th, 1811. His business 
was that of a wool buyer and woolen manufacturer, but 
he exercised the functions of a Methodist local preacher 
among the Wesleyan Methodists in the Bramley circuit, ad- 
joining Leeds. In 1840 he came to the United States and en- 
tered into business, and during 1841 traveled extensively in the 
South and Southwest. From 1842 to the spring of 1845 he was a 
local preacher in Dutchess county, New York, when he entered the 
New York Conference, but retired from it in the autumn of the fol- 
lowing year, by reason of ill health. In 1845 he was stationed at 
East Hartford. He was admitted to the New York East Conference 
in 1852, and appointed to Summerfield Chapel. This was a new 
Methodist organization in Washington avenue, Brooklyn, started by 
himself with eight members, but which is now a large and flourishing 
congregation. His subsequent appointments have been as follows — 
viz.; 1853, 1854 Binghamton, Connecticut ; 1855, 1856, Bridgeport ; 
1857, 1858, Seventh street, New York ; 1859, 1860, Twenty-seventh 
street, New York ; 1861, 1862, Mamaroneck ; 1863, Meriden, Con- 
necticut, and in 1864 at the Sands street Church, Brooklyn. He has 
held other appointments, and in 1872 he became presiding elder of 
the South Long Island District, New York East Conference. 

Methodist itinerants began to visit Brooklyn as early as 1784, 
preaching occasionally in private houses. In 1793 the first Metho- 
dist church, a small frame building, was erected on the site of the 
present Sands street church. This house was dedicated by Bev. 
Joseph Totten, June 1st, 1794. Three years later Brooklyn was 
formed into a separate charge, with a membership of twenty- three 

193 



REV. CHARLES FLETCHER 

whites, and twenty-seven colored. Eev. Joseph Totten was the first 
stationed minister. There are now thirty-four Methodist churches 
in Brooklyn. 

Mr. Eletcher is a large, tall gentleman ; broad-shouldered, heavy- 
boned, and, altogether, a very fine specimen of physical development. 
His head is of fitting size for his large body ; and, while the counte- 
nance is not characterized by any striking marks of intellect, it has an 
openness and benevolence which are not less attractive. He is not 
one from whom anything brilliant or unusual in words and deeds is 
to be expected, but to-day and always he will be found a man of the 
most practical qualities of mind, and of honorable, straightforward 
conduct He has a great deal of deliberation and thoughtfulness of 
manner ; and, while he is entirely courteous, is neither communicative 
nor genial. In a word, he is one of those sedate, old-fashioned per- 
sons never to be changed from old ways and old opinions, and never 
carried away by any impulse or excitement, but showing admirable 
consistency in all things, and an appreciable amiability. 

The following is a brief sketch of Mr. Fletcher, written by a 
person intimate with him : 

" This gentleman is much above mediocrity, as a preacher. Exceedingly well 
balanced in his mental attributes, with scholarly tastes and considerable cultivation, 
his sermons are generally of a high order. He possesses clearness of style, consid- 
erable analytical power, with a fancy well cultivated, but not very sprightly. His 
preaching is characterized by dignity, strength, and manliness, without great bril- 
liancy or originality. He is retiring in his habits, meditative, and studious, with 
little sociability, and perhaps not as well adapted as some others for pastoral effi- 
ciency. He is generally, however, popular with the people in his field of labor ; and 
is, undoubtedly, a rising man in the church. His character and abilities will always 
command the respect of the pubbc, and he will doubtless be found equal to any 
position to which he may be called by the appointing power." 

Mr. Fletcher is a most useful man in the sect to which he belongs. 
His piety is sincere and enthusiastic ; he is ever making a practical 
application of his talents and energies to the propagation of his faith 
and the conversion of souls, and especially commending himself to 
his fellow-men by his zeal and a blameless life. Humble-minded, 
zealous, faithful, Grod-fearing, and outspoken, he is recognized in his 
denomination as a noble illustration of the religious principles, of 
which he is a teacher. 

194 



REV. JOHN MURRAY FORBES, D. D., 

LATE DEAN OE THE EPISCOPAL GENERAL. 
THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW YORK. 




>EV. DE. JOHN MUEEAY FOEBES was born in the 
city of New York in 1807. He was graduated at Colom- 
bia College in the class of 1827, and at the General Theo- 
logical Seminary in 1830. His first position was as tutor 
Trinity College, Hartford, to which he was appointed in the 
^§3 fall of the same year. In 1835 he resigned, and accepted the 
rectorship of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, in Hudson street, New 
York, one of the most important parishes of the city. He remained 
in this work about fourteen years, until the summer of 1849, having 
made for himself a wide popularity in his own denomination, and in 
the church generally. He constantly held important offices and 
positions. 

For some time previously it had been known that Dr. Forbes had 
given his scholarly attention to an examination of the doctrines of 
the Church of Eome, and his purpose in retiring from the rectorship 
of St. Luke's was to enter that communion. This step, in one so 
eminent and beloved, produced a most profound sensation among 
both Episcopalians and Eoman Catholics. In the early part of 1851 
Dr. Forbes was ordained a priest in the Eoman Catholic Church, and 
became assistant priest at the Church of the Nativity in Second 
avenue, New York. His talents and reputation gave him full title 
to as conspicuous a position in the Catholic body as in the one he 
had left. Subsequently, in 1853, he was made pastor of the new 
church of St. Ann's, in Eighth street, where he officiated for about 
six years. Dr. Forbes received at the hands of Pius IX the degree 
of Doctor of Sacred Theology. He was also sent by the late Arch- 
bishop Hughes on a special mission to Eome, to aid in establishing 
there the American College for Priests, with, it is said, the intimation 
that he might remain, if he wished it, to preside over that institution. 
In 1859 he resigned his position at St. Ann's, and at the same time 

195 



REV. JOHN MURRAY FORBES, D. D. 

withdrew from the Catholic Church, and re-entered that in which he 
had been first ordained. His reasons for this important act are given 
in the following letter, which is a correct version, and differs from an- 
other in print : 

New York, October 17th, 1859. 
Most Reverend John Hughes, D. D., Archbishop, &c. : — 

Most Reverend Snt — It is now nearly ten years since, under your auspices, I 
laid down my ministry in the Protestant Episcopal Church, to submit myself to the 
Church of Rome. The interval, as you know, has not been idly spent ; each day 
has had its responsibility and duty, and with these have come experience, observa- 
tion, and the knowledge of many things not so well understood before. The result 
is that I feel I have committed a grave error, which, publicly made, should be 
publicly repaired. When I came to you, it was, as I stated, with a deep and con- 
scientious conviction that it was necessary to be in communion with the See of 
Rome ; but this conviction I have not been able to sustain, in face of the fact that 
by it the natural rights of man and all individual liberty must be sacrificed— nor 
only so, but the private conscience often violated, and one forced, by silence at 
least, to acquiesce in what is opposed to moral truth and justice. Under these 
circumstances, when I call to mind how slender is the foundation in the earliest 
ages of the Church upon which has been reared the j>resent Papal power, I can no 
longer regard it as legitimately imposing obligations upon me or any one else. I do 
now, therefore, by this act, disown and withdraw myself from its alleged juris- 
diction. 

I remain, most reverend sir, your obedient servant, 

John Murray Forbes, D. D., 
Late Pastor of St. Ann's Church, N. T. 

When this remarkable letter was made public it caused a great 
excitement in the religious world. No one who knew Dr. Forbes 
could for a moment suppose that in leaving the Episcopal Church, 
and now in repudiating the Catholic, that he was actuated by any 
except the most conscientious motives. Still he had his assailants on 
both occasions, and submitted to the greatest possible trial in his per- 
sonal feelings. His return to the Episcopal faith was hailed with the 
deepest joy by his old friends and parishioners. He had never lost 
the respect of those persons, and on every side he received the 
warmest tokens of confidence from both clergy and laity. He was 
fully restored to his order in the Protestant Episcopal Church, in 
1862, and became associate rector with the Eev. Dr. Tuttle of his old 
parish, St. Luke's. In October, 1869, he was elected dean of the 
General Theological Seminary. His installation to office took place 
in February, 1870, at the church of the Transfiguration with interest- 
ing services. In the course of an address, Dr. Forbes used the follow- 
ing language : " Eomanism has conferred upou us the inestimable 
privileges of professing God's revealed word, and the orders which 



REV. JOHN MUBEAT FORBES, D. D. 

Christ ordained should always subsist in His church. But this church 
throws chains around us which no one can endure and preserve his 
manhood." 

The General Theological Seminary is located on a large property 
on Ninth avenue and West Twentieth and West Twenty -first streets. 
It was founded in 1817, removed to New Haven in 1820, and re- 
moved back again to New York in 1821. The seminary buildings 
and professors' houses are plainly constructed edifices of granite, 
some of which were erected in 1823 and others in 1838. It is under 
discussion to sell this now very valuable property, and remove the 
seminary to some other location. The faculty is a very able one, 
embracing as it does some of the most eminent names of the Episcopal 
ministry, and the institution is in a very flourishing condition. 

Dr. Forbes entered upon his duties of permanent head of the 
seminary, the want of such a functionary having been deeply felt for 
twenty-five years, with his accustomed urbanity and zeal. He also 
visited among the different parishes, as opportunity offered for preach- 
ing, and was everywhere listened to with great interest. Considera- 
tions of his own induced him to resign in November, 1872. 

He is of the medium height, and has a round, erect figure. His 
head is large and round, with regular features. The expression of 
bis face is very amiable and benevolent, and his high prominent brow 
bespeaks his more than ordinary intellectual- capacity. His hair is a 
silver gray, and his whole appearance venerable and impressive in 
the extreme. He has one of those genial noble faces that the gaze 
loves to linger upon. The eyes are soft and bright, and there is a 
cheerfulness, an amiability, and an intellectuality that together make 
a countenance not easily forgotten. Then while he is a man of an 
ever-present dignity, he always exhibits a courtesy and affability of 
the most pleasing description. With all this polish and softness of 
manners, it is also easily to be seen that he is a person of much force 
of character. He is not demonstrative in either speech or manner, 
but there are to be observed a firmness and precision, an exactness to 
principle and duty, and an earnest desire for right and the truth, that 
show him to have strong feelings and opinions, and to have the will 
to maintain them. Hence wherever he is placed he is a tower of 
strength. He has not only a learned, but practical mind, and an 
energy which is not less unselfish than it is untiring. In the field 
of action he is eager, firm, and bold at the same time that he 
studiously avoids everything which might offend personal su3- 

197 



REV. JOHN MURRAY FORBES, D. D. 

ceptibility. A just and generous spirit characterizes all bis relations 
with his fellow-men, and, while he is no seeker for popularity, inter- 
course with hirn always secures it with all classes. 

The sermons preached by Dr. Forbes are peculiar to himself. A 
life-long and thorough student of theology, it is not difficult for him 
to take any text from the Scriptures and speak extemporaneously 
upon it. You see him go into the pulpit, and, after reading bis text, 
he turns to his audience and addresses them in the most logical and 
argumentative manner without the assistance of anything written. 
Whatever previous thought and preparation he may allow himself is 
altogether mental. You are particularly struck with his choice, 
epigrammatic language, with the fullness and clearness of his explana- 
tions and argument, and with the modest and unostentatious manner 
of delivery. At times there is evidence of warmth and feeling, but 
the general tone is that of great calmness and dignity. His words 
are most simple, but they have marked force and expressiveness. 
They are apt and terse, and are most happily chosen for the place 
and purpose in which they are used. His voice is not loud, but it 
has quite sufficient compass, and is so modulated that every word 
has the best effect, A few expressive gestures are all that he ever 
attempts. While he speaks his face is very animated, and he 
thoroughly impresses you with bis sincerity and devout piety. A 
truly good man, his preaching presents him in the light of a most 
learned and conscientious expounder of Gospel truths. 

198 



REY. BISHOP RANDOLPH S. FOSTER, D. D., LL. D., 

OF THE METHODIST CHURCH. 




)EV. DR. RANDOLPH S. FOSTER, one of the Bishops of 
the Methodist church, was born at Williamsburg, Clermont 
county, Ohio, February 22d, 1820. When he was six 
years old his father removed to Bracken county, Ken- 

ftucky, where he attended such a school as the county afforded. 
At fourteen years he entered Augusta College, one of the earliest 
Methodist collegiate institutions which was established in the United 
States, where he continued until he had entered the senior year. He- 
had been converted at the early age of twelve years, and when thir- 
teen years and a half he had received authority to exhort in the 
Methodist church. On leaving college, in 1837, at seventeen, he 
was licensed as a preacher, and, entering the Ohio Conference, was 
appointed to the Charleston Circuit in Western Virginia. He re- 
mained in the Ohio Conference thirteen years, and had appointments 
at many places, including the cities of Lancaster, Springfield, and 
Cincinnati. He came to New York in 1849, and, entering the New 
York Conference, was first stationed in the Mulberry street church 
for two years, and subsequently at Greene street church two years. 
He next entered the New York East Conference, and went to the 
Pacific street church, Brooklyn, where he remained two years. Re- 
turning to the New York Conference, he went to Trinity church, 
New York, for one year, and then became president of the North- 
western University in Illinois, where he remained three years. After 
this he again returned to New York, and remained at the Washing- 
ton Square Church for two years, then, going to Sing Sing for two 
years, and then to the Eighteenth street church, New York, for three 
years, and in 1867 commenced another two years' appointment at 
the Washington Square church. Later he became a professor in the 
Drew Theological Seminary, New Jersey. 

In 1861, Dr. Foster was elected president of the Troy University ; 

199 



BISHOP RANDOLPH S. FOSTER, D. D., LL.D. 

but, on account of the financial embarrassments of the institution, 
did not accept the position. The General Conference in May, 1872, 
elected him one of the Bishops of the Methodist church. 

Bishop Foster received the degree of D. D. from the "Western 
University, and LL. D. from the Northwestern University. He is 
the author of several published works, and various occasional sermons. 
The titles of his works are "Objections to Calvinism," published in 
Cincinnati in 1848; "Christian Purity/' published by the Harpers, 
New York, and the Methodist Book Concern, in 1851 ; "Ministry for 
the Times," published in New York in 1853. 

Bishoj) Foster is tall, well-proportioned, and seems to be a man 
of a considerable amount of physical vigor. His head is of ample 
size, with regular, expressive features. It is readily to be seen that 
he is of a reflective, serious nature, and has mental power as well as 
force of character. He is dignified, and reserved to some extent, but 
is not without congeniality. In all respects he is a sedate, sober-going 
man, feeling and observing the dignity and proprieties belonging to 
the clerical station. 

His whole life has been one of undeviating piety and labor in his 
profession. His early conversion was accompanied by many affecting 
incidents of thorough self-sacrifice and devotion to the • cause of re- 
ligion ; and his ministerial career, which dates from his very youth, 
has been strikingly marked by rigid adherence, not only to religious 
principles, but to every-day duty. He presents in his own conduct 
as far as he can, the true religious life, but he does it without parade 
and without bigotry. 

Bishop Foster is justly regarded as one of the most scholarly men 
in the Methodist church. His attainments in the whole field of 
theology are of the first order. He is not one of your showy scholars, 
indulging in metaphysical disquisitions and pedantic opinions, but 
as an expounder of the scriptures there are few more learned. His 
teachings and all his writings are thoroughly reflective, and show the 
utmost scope of the well-stored and naturally logical mind. He is 
not only particularly clear in all his statements and explanations, 
but he is so comprehensive and logical in his mode of reasoning that 
he delights the intellectual as much as he instructs the lesser mind. 
At the same time there are occasional passages in which he gives 
scope to his imagination, which is always distinguished by much re- 
ligious inspiration and a peculiarly tender pathos. His arguments 
are maiestic efforts of thought, but he is a man of those warm feel- 

200 



BISHOP RANDOLPH S. FOSTER, D. D., LL. D. 

ings of the heart that religious topics invariably appeal more or less 
to his emotions. 

He is a speaker of much effectiveness from his calm dignity of 
address. His intelligent, beaming face, his earnest, authoritative voice, 
his composed and appropriate gestures, are all sources of power over 
his audience. He obtains instant and undivided attention, and every 
word, distinctly and forcibly uttered, goes, like an arrow through 
the air, to the mind and heart. 

Bishop Foster is a representative of the class of educated men in 
the Methodist ministry. They are the forerunners of the talented 
body of clergy who are hereafter to maintain the popular supremacy 
of this church. In proportion as this new influence shall bless and ex- 
alt mankind, so will be the renown of those who have originated it. 

201 



RET. CYRUS D. FOSS, D. D., 

LATE PA-TOR OF ST. DP^TTT-^S METHODIST 

CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




EV. DR CYKUS D. FOSS was born at Kingston, N. 
Y., January 17th, 1834. He pursued his earlier studies 
at the Seminary at Amenia, N. Y., and was graduated in 
theology at the Wesley an University in 1854. In the 
previous year he had been licensed as a local preacher of 
the Methodist church ; but after graduation, he became a 
teacher in the Amenia Seminary. He remained there three 
years as instructor and one year as principal. He then joined the 
New York Conference, and entered upon regular pastoral duty. His 
appointments were at Chester, Orange County, N Y., in 1857-58 ; 
Fleet Street Church, Brooklyn, 1859-60, when he was transferred to 
the New York East Conference, and stationed for the first time at 
St Paul's. New York. For the last fourteen vears he has been al- 
together at St. Paul's, and other prominent churches of New York, 
never remaining from the first named for any great length of time, as 
the people are greatly attached to him. In the spring of 1874 he 
left St. Paul's to fill an appointment at St. James' Church (Harlem), 
New York City, where he is now officiating. 

Some years since, Dr. Foss declined a professorship in the Drew 
Theological Seminary, preferring to remain in the pastoral work, 
which he greatly loves. At the meeting of the General Conference, 
in May, 1872, he received a large vote as a candidate for one of the 
vacant bishoprics, but finally, himself withdrew his name, suggesting 
that an older man should be elected. He is conspicuous as a tem- 
perance advocate in the State, and uses both pen and tongue to ad- 
vance this cause. He frequently contributes to religious and tem- 
perance publications. As a speaker at meetings for special purposes, 
and as a preacher in camp-meetings, he is extremely effective and 

202 



REV. CYRUS D. FOSS, D. D. 

popular. He received the degree of A. M. from Wesleyan Univer- 
sity in 1857. Within a few years the degree of D. D. has also been 
conferred upon him. 

Dr. Foss is of the medium height, well-proportioned, and of an 
erect, commanding figure. His complexion inclines to the dark, 
with a ruddy, healthful glow, and he has dark hair and whiskers. 
His eyes are small, and have very modest sort of glances, except 
when he is aroused in public speaking, when they light up with in- 
tellectual fire. In his general demeanor he is retiring and unobtrusive, 
and still he is one of those men in whom this very modesty is a 
token of power. 

Some people are nobodies unless they make a noise, and push 
and elbow somebody else out of the way. Then there are those, who 
of their own volition always seek the back-ground, but in whose very 
silence, quiet, and dignity there are found unmistakable signs of the 
inner forces of true mental and moral greatness. The great thinkers, 
and those who rise to the highest point of personal virtue, are men 
who care so little for the world's applause, and so much for the 
development of the practice of principles, that they even shun 
observation. Sometimes such human jewels as these are positively 
considered bores, and noisy, self-sufficient individuals carry off the 
palm of popularity, and have exceeding reputations as learned men. 

Dr. Foss is nothing in the throng of the vain and ambitious. His 
sensitiveness is of the most delicate character, and the moment any- 
body crowds him he unselfishly gives way. He enters into no con- 
tests for flattery or honors, but he treasures up as bis dearest idol the 
duty of expanding the qualities which make man great in the light 
of intelligence and conscience. You must know him to appreciate 
him, unless you have that knowledge of human nature which enables 
you to detect force of character which is so much concealed. In his 
strictly private life he is decidely genial and communicative. He acts 
as if he thoroughly enjoyed himself, and makes social communion a 
means of refinement, for both mind and heart. The one is aglow 
with light, cheerful, and tender sentiments, and the other yields a 
rich flow of manly and Christian sympathies. You see that his 
learning is of the most thorough character, that it is his delight, and 
that he pursues his scholarly studies with a mind naturally strong, 
far-reaching, and retentive. His reserve entirely fades away, and 
there is nothing of the seeming dread, which he shows at other times, 
that somebody will think him vain and presumptuous. His social 

203 



BEY. CYRUS D. FOSS, D. D. 

qualities — which are the gentlest, the most considerate, and the most 
gentlemanly — now appear in their true excellence, and his talents 
and worth are equally conspicuous. 

Already holding a prominent place in his denomination, he is still 
a rising man. Most of his sermons are extemporaneous efforts. He 
has a great deal of deliberation in his delivery, though there is none 
too much for effective speaking. He weighs every word, and as he 
goes on, the thought gains in strength, completeness and beauty, 
until it is finished clear and vivid to both speaker and hearer. He 
has no reserve, as far as language is concerned, in the pulpit. To 
talk about religion, to call sinners to repentance, and comfort those 
who come to ask the way to grace — these make him bold. Now his 
eyes beam with a new light ; now his form straightens and fills out 
with conscious powers; and now his lips are heard in tones of thunder. 
He does not speak with any doubtfulness, with any fear that there 
can be any mistake about what he says ; but he speaks with the 
emphatic utterance of the learned mind and the renewed heart. He 
is earnest at all times ; but there are periods when this is more evident 
than at others. He has outbursts of considerable vehemence, and the 
whole tide of his feelings and mental comprehension sweeps outward 
in his effort to teach and to touch. His voice is strong, and especi- 
ally rich-toned in the more impassioned flights of eloquence. An 
argumentative style is a favorite one with him — something that gives 
an opportunity to combat objections, and to build up logic, from his 
own resources and intelligence. He is always ready, going directly 
to the point, and meeting every issue with a fairness and success, 
which are only equaled by the fervor and grandeur of his elo- 
quence. 

204 




4</^ 




T9Z67 




REV. JUSTUS CLEMENT FRENCH, 

PASTOR OF THE WESTMINSTER PRESBYTE- 
RIAN CHURCH, BROOKLYN. 




EV. JUSTUS CLEMENT FKENCH was born at Barre, 
Vermont, May 3d, 1831. He received early academic 
instruction, and was graduated at Williams College, Mas- 
sachusetts, in 1853. His studies for the ministry were 
pursued at the Union Theological Seminary, New York, where 
he was graduated in 1856. He was ordained March 5th, 1857, 
became settled over the Central Congregational Church, in 
Ormond Place, Brooklyn. The church edifice was handsomely im- 
proved at that time. His pastorate here continued for fourteen years. 
In November, 1870, he resigned under the compulsion of the most 
grievous necessity, viz.: his utter nervous prostration, the result of 
too intense and prolonged application to his work. This was, he 
states, the great trial of his life. His people would not consent to 
the separation, until his peremptory demand made it inevitable. Then, 
presenting him with several thousand dollars, they bade him seek re- 
storation. In January, 1871, he left for California, and spent nearly 
six months on the Pacific coast ; laid there the foundation of renewed 
health; returned to the East, and for six months preached from city 
to city, receiving and declining seven calls, until in November of that 
year, he entered into an arrangement with the Westminster Pres- 
byterian Church of Brooklyn, to supply its pulpit for six months, as 
he would on no account accept its call given at that date. 

This congregation was organized in South Brooklyn in 1855, and 
worship was first held in a hall. In 1856 lots were purchased on the 
corner of Clinton street and First Place, at a cost of thirteen thousand 
dollars, in the rear part of which a chapel was erected, costing seven 
thousand dollars. Other improvements were subsequently made at a 
large outlay of money. Professor Hitchcock preached for some time ; 
but the first called pastor was the Eev. Hugh Smith Carpenter, who 
came in 1857, and remained until near the date when Mr. French took 

205 



RET. JUSTUS CLEMENT FRElsCH. 

charge. As early as March, 1872, the prosperity of the church, -under 
Mr. French, became so positive and assured, and his own health was 
so firmly re-established that he accepted the unanimous call of the 
congregation, and was installed March 6th, 1872. Rev. Mr. Carpenter 
was called to the Howard street Presbyterian Church of San Fran- 
cisco, and Dr. Scudder, a former pastor of that church, was called to 
the Central Congregational of Brooklyn. A perfect pastoral trian- 
gulation was effected by these changes. 

Since 1872 the membership of the Westminster Church has more 
than doubled in number, the Sunday School nearly quadrupled, the 
congregation increased in a ten-fold ratio, and the financial condition 
of the Society become most satisfactoiy. 

As one result of Mr. French's California trip he prepared, in the 
winter of 1873, three lectures, which he illustrated by cartoons 
drawn by himself with colored chalks and crayons on canvas paper. 
These cartoons are seven feet by four and a half feet. The lectures 
have been delivered repeatedly before immense audiences, and receiv- 
ed from the press most favorable notice. 

Mr. French has* published various sermons of great power and 
beauty of language. During his college clays he wrote numerous 
poetic effusions of more than ordinary merit. At the present time, 
in hours of relaxation from severer literary toil, he occasionally 
cultivates the Muses. 

His head is long, with considerable expression about the brow. 
His expression is most happy and smiling. In his manners he is 
exceedingly polite and cordial, and in his conversation there is 
generally a tendency to cheerfulness. His social qualities are deserv- 
edly appreciated, and his presence is the certain promoter of geniality. 
"Without effort, without hesitation or ceremony, he mingles with all, 
old and young, with a happy adaptability of manners and conversa- 
tion that always interests, pleases, and captivates. 

His writings are fearless, graceful, and eloquent. The strong 
convictions of his mind and the melting emotions of his heart are 
infused in every line. He can feel nothing, he can write nothing, 
that is not honest, true, and good. He brings everything to the test 
of a quick and vigilant conscience, and of an honorable and courag- 
eous nature. If it stands the examination, none can be a bolder 
champion ; and if its fails, none will be a more determined foe. 
Hence, in the discussion of all principles, doctrines, and themes, he 
advocates or denounces, with a nature fully aroused to the require- 

206 



REV. JUSTUS CLEMENT FRENCH. 

ments of duty, and with every power of mind strengthened for the 
issue. 

Mr. French has evidently made declamation somewhat of a study, 
but he has natural capabilities of the first order as an orator. He 
delivers himself with calmness, effectiveness, and entire naturalness. 
There is, on his own part, a full and complete understanding of his 
subject ; and the flow of language in making this clear to others is 
one uninterrupted stream of fluent, earnest thought. His writings 
have much terseness and grammatical accuracy, and in speaking he 
is usually careful to make every word do its necessaiy and effective 
part. His gestures are few and simple, while highly appropriate. 

Mr. French is a working, practical, thorough-going Christian. He 
makes no compromises and asks no favors of the adversary, and has 
little patience with those who do. Of a most cheerful, hopeful spirit, 
enjoying society and its pleasures with a generous though sensible 
limit, and melting sadness and seriousness into joy and mirth when- 
ever it can be profitably accomplished, still he never forgets the pur- 
pose, dignity, and importance of his religious calling. Without de- 
grading the minister, he consents to exhibit the man ; and, without 
turning his directing finger from the open gates on high, he has a 
hand to scatter flowers along the earthly road. 



207 



REV. OCTAVIUS B. FROTHINGHAM, 

PASTOR OF THE THIRD UNITARIAN CHURCH, 

NEW FORK. 




»EV. OCTAVIUS B. FBOTHINGHAM was bom in the 
city of Boston, November 26th, 1822. His early studies 
were at the Latin School. He was graduated at Harvard 
University in 1843, and at the Divinity School in 18-16. 
was ordained to the ministry of the Unitarian church, and 
installed as pastor of the North Church, Salem, March 10th, 
1847. In the spring of 1855 he removed to Jersey City, where he 
established the First Unitarian Church, and remained four years as 
pastor. He next accepted a call, in the spring of 1859, to the Third 
Congregational Unitarian Society of New York, which position he 
still retains. The society was in its infancy, and services were held 
in a public hall. As in all his other pastorships, the earnest and 
well-directed efforts of Mr. Frothingham soon showed their results 
in a large numerical increase of the congregation. Lots were ob- 
tained in Fortieth street, near Sixth avenue, and a church built 
which was dedicated in May, 1863. The whole cost of the property 
was forty thousand dollars. A debt of eighteen thousand dollars 
remained on the ground after the erection of the church. Some 
years later the edifice was sold to Dr. Alexander B. Thompson's 
Beformed Congregation, since which time the Third Society have 
worshiped in a hall on Sixth avenue. The congregation is one of 
the most intellectual which assembles in New York. The attendance 
is about five hundred, and there are seventy children in the Sunday 
school. This society represents the liberal branch of the Unitarian 
body, differing on points of doctrine from such Unitarians as Drs. 
Bellows and Farley. Mr. Frothingham's publications consist of 
several small volumes, and various occasional sermons. 

"We take the following eloquent and highly original extract from 
a sermon entitled " Seeds and Shells," preached in New York, No- 
vember 17th, 1 861 : 208 



RET. OCTAVIUS B. FEOTHINGEAK. 

" Some two thousand years ago a regenerating principle became embodied in the 
form of a young Galilean. Year after year it lay completely hidden in that germ 
of earth. The frame matured into manly proportions, and grew into manly beauty. 
The wealth of heaven aud earth passed into it — the air, and the light, and the great 
benedictions of the skies ; it collected about it the loveliest things ; friendships 
attached themselves to it ; love twined around it the fine web of affection ; it was 
moistened by the dew of tears ; the precious bloom of human associations gathered 
thick upon it. Decade after decade, the dear, handsome shell of mortality kept 
from harm the precious seeds of life it contained. The tempests of a wild earthly 
career blew it hither and thither about the world ; it was beaten up and down, from 
village to village, by wind and weather ; now for a brief space finding lodgment in 
some quiet nook, where the storm could not touch it, nor the tramping of busy 
feet molest it ; but speedily whirled away again by the gusts of circumstance, and 
almost buried in the common dust of the highway. Very dear to a few loving 
hearts was that mortal casket of flesh ; men and women clung to it as to all that 
was precious to them in existence. They thought it would be death to them, and a 
calamity to the whole world if any fatal harm should befall it. Those merciful 
hands, those gracious tones, those benignant looks— how could they lose them from 
human sight ? They should all die in his death ; they should all wither in his 
blighting. Presently, however, violent hands tore that beautiful covering of flesh 
in pieces ; in the very prime of its maturity, in the very bloom of its loveliness, 
it fell assunder, it perished ; (he few who had been graced with a knowledge of its 
worth abandoned themselves to a comfortless grief. But, straightway, behold ! the 
divine thought, the treasured principle which that lovely casket was made to hold, 
and which had become full and rich, so as to need holding no longer, assumes a 
new covering, nobler and more expansive than the last. The inclosing capsule that 
contains it now is not one man, but a body of men. The vital force has passed 
into society : it has become a law of life in some hundreds of hearts ; it has 
become a bond of union between them all ; it has collected a society ; it has founded 
an organization ; it has embodied itself in a church which is a new body of Christ, 
shaped, and molded, and animated by the celestial love that, while Jesus was alive 
on earth, could only fling its ray like a small candle into a thick night. 

"And now, after a time, i his new covering hardens ; it becomes a thick com- 
pressed crust around the quick spirit, beneath which it was at first so yielding. 
It is heavy with pendants and badges ; it is thick with symbols and rites ; it is 
wrapped all about with the stiff parchments of statutes and creeds ; it is bound 
about with priestly orders ; it bristles with staffs of officers ; it is enervated with 
monasteries and churches ; it looks eternal with its towers and foundations, its 
constitutions, decretals, rubrics, its solid institutions and absolute weight of 
dominion. In this mighty shell of the church, the life that was first incarnate in 
Jesus lay inertly hidden all through the terrible ages of violence, when it must 
have perished had it been less stoutly protected. What tempests raved around it. 
All the elements of human nature were let loose upon it ; war beat upon it with its 
battle-axe ; fraud and rapine and power and ignorance bored into it with their 
bits and pried at it with their levers. These were the dark ages ; but the church 
protected the seeds of truth and goodness that were committed to it. Men said 
the church is eternal, the church is unchangeable ; its amity cannot be broken ; its 
integrity will never be disturbed ; but the time came for this ' corn of wheat ' to 
fall into the ground and die ; the bands were loosened, great fissures opened in its 
sides, walls sprung and fell in, and, in spite of every effort to preserve it by clamps 
and ligatures, the parts dropped asunder. There was a shudder, as if the world 

209 



EEV. OCTAVIUS B. FROTHINGHAM. 

was coming to an end. The truth was, the world was coming to a beginning ; the 
new world which had been waiting for the dying of the body, that it might feed on 
the spirit, which alone could give life. The principles of our modern civilization, 
the principles of our modern humanity, would never have been what they are, 
would never have been ours at all, but for the dropping and decay of that mammoth 
institution which for half a thousand years had been identical almost with the very 
existence cf social order. 

" This is the economy of nature ; seen alike in the rotting of seeds, the decay 
of fruits, the dissolution of human bodies, the breaking up of customs, establish- 
ments, institutions, no matter what may be their dimensions or their character." 

Mr. Frothingham is rather above the medium height, well pro- 
portioned, and altogether of an elegant, graceful figure. He stands' 
perfectly erect, and there is about him everything, in the physical as 
well as mental peculiarities, to attract and to fascinate. His head is 
of large size, with finely molded features of the highest intel- 
lectual type. His brow is round and massive, his eyes are light and 
full of expression, and his whole countenance betokens rare and 
noble qualities of both, manhood and mind. In his manners he is 
the polished gentleman. A proper dignity, a refined tone, and a 
genial kindness pervade his demeanor at all times. 

Mr. Frothingham is one of the most brilliant minds of the day. 
His scholarship is thorough, and, more than this, he is a profound 
and original thinker. His learning and research are but the growth 
of a nature naturally refined, full of intellectual aspirations, and 
guided by the strongest mental powers. He was born for a scholar. 
Philosophy, logic, and sentiment are elements of his mental nature 
as much as the senses are of his physical. Hence he has matured 
into a thinker of rare ability. It is delightful to hear or read his 
written pages. They are coached in the purest and most elegant 
expressions of the English tongue, and they show a reach and an 
originality of thought which cannot but arrest the intelligent mind. 
He is progressive ; he looks onward and upward in everything ; and 
the unprogressive, and the timid, and short-sighted may feel 
alarm at his bold conceptions, his daring prophesies, and aggressive 
purposes. But he works with the forces of intelligence alone. As 
far as these will carry a courageous, ambitious spirit, so far will he 
go, and no further. He sounds out new channels of thought, he 
explores new paths of truth, and he delves into the very caverns of 
lore. Powerful to think, eloquent to declaim, elegant in gesture, he 
is as brilliant an example of intellectual power as the modern pulpit 
presents. 

210 



REV. JUSTIN D. FULTON, D. D., 

PASTOR OE THE HANSON PLACE ."BAPTIST 
CHURCH, BROOKLYN. 




EV. DR. JUSTIN D. FULTON was born at Sherburne, 
Madison County, New York, March 1st, 1828. "When eight 
years of age, the family removed to Michigan. He had 
previously attended the public school of his native vil- 
lage, and his education was continued under man}' disadvan- 
tages, after the removal. At the age of nineteen, in 1847, 
he entered the University of Michigan at Ann Harbor, where he 
passed three years. He next entered the senior class of the Univer- 
sity of Rochester, then just founded, and was graduated with honor in 
1 851. Two years were devoted to a course in the Theological school 
connected with the University, and in 1853 he was ordained to the 
ministry of the Baptist church. 

He immediately went to St. Louis, where he edited the Gospel 
Banner for two years. The slavery excitement finally broke up the 
newspaper enterprise. In 1855, Dr. Fulton became the pastor of the 
Baptist Church, at Sandusky, Ohio, and later, in the fall of 1859, he 
accepted a call to the pastorship of the Tabernacle Church at Albany, 
New York. Here he spent four years in a very successful ministry. 
In January, 1864, he was invited to the charge of the Tremont Tem- 
ple congregation, in Boston, where he remained nine years. When he 
went to Boston, he found the congregation much reduced, having but 
fifty members remaining, and the income was only eight hundred 
dollars a year. During his term of ministry, which was most efficient 
and powerful in -the pulpit and out of it, the membership increased 
to one thousand, and the income to twenty-one thousand dollars. In 
1872, Dr. Fulton was called to his present field, the Hanson Place 
Baptist Church of Brooklyn. This congregation was organized about 
tfventy years ago, and formerly worshiped in Atlantic street. They 
at length erected a large brick church edifice in Hanson Place, and 
have since been a strong and influential body. 

211 



REV. JUSTIN D. FULTON, D. D. 

Dr. Fulton is an able writer, and has published a large number of 
books and pamphlets. Among others are " The Eoman Catholic 
element in America ; " " Life of Timothy Gilbert, the Founder of the 
Tremont Temple ; " " The True "Woman ; " " Eome in America. " 
A tract on the Sabbath had a sale of more than one hundred thousand 
copies. He has written a great deal on the subject of temperance, 
and, in fact, on all the reforms of the day. One purpose in his re- 
moval to Brooklyn, was to establish, through the aid of the congre- 
gation to which he was called, a paper to give currency to his ser- 
mons and writings on reforms. 

We quote from another the following personal description of Dr. 
Fulton : 

"The deportment of Dr. Fulton in the pulpit is entirely original, as distin- 
guished from that of any of the other leading preachers in this city. His dress is 
plain but neat. His step to and from the desk is elastic, and altogether devoid of 
any aim at formality. His voice is not subjected to any severe test by affected and 
unnatural efforts at false intonation, and yet, while his words roll fast and furiously 
after each other, as if each one of them was a rival messenger from a warm, zealous, 
and earnest heart, they are modulated in their rising and falling, but never at the 
expense of the speaker's fervor. In his manuscript, fine rhetoric abounds, but that 
is frequently deserted for the resistless impulse which the preacher obeys as he steps 
to either side of the desk, or springs back fr-m it to pour forth his eloquent and 
thrilling practical appeals, or to cite his telling illustrations in support of them. 

Dr. Fulton enjoys a wide reputation as an eloquent and impressive 
preacher, a fluent and pointed writer, and, in all labor, one of the most 
earnest and practical of men. Always an industrious student, his 
ability in scholarship is enlarged and thorough, while his gifts as an 
orator and writer are of that original and splendid kind, which can- 
not fail to command attention. In all his pastorships he has labored 
with great success, constantly widening the scope of his influence 
and the bounds of his fame. Peculiar, marked, and effective in all 
his characteristics, whether of the mental or physical nature, he occu- 
pies a position at once of prominence and power. For religion and 
reform he is ever a zealous champion, doing battle on every hand, 
without fear or favor. With a conscience keenly sensitive to the de- 
mands of duty, he has the talents, courage, and energy which make 
his efforts successful in whatever direction he feels called upon to de- 
vote them. 212 



REY. HENRY M. GALLAHER, 

JUA-TE pastor of the first baptist 

CHURCH, BROOKLYN. 




lEY. HENRY M. GALLAHER was born at Castlebar, 
Ireland, September, 11th, 1833. He came to the United 
States in 1850, and, after spending some time in the State 
of Connecticut, went to the West. In June, 1861, he was 
graduated at Shurtleff College, a Baptist institution, at 
^ Upper Alton, Illinois, where he had passed six years in prepar- 
atory and theological studies. He had been licensed to the Baptist 
ministry in 1857, and preached his first sermon at Springfield. Im- 
mediately upon his graduation, he settled at Quincy as the pastor of 
the Yermont street Baptist Church, which position he held for three 
years. He next accepted a call to the First Baptist Church, Brook- 
lyn, where he assumed his duties August 1st, 1864. Several years 
since, he accepted a call to the Broad street Church, Elizabeth, 
New Jersey. 

Mr. Grallaher has written much on political subjects in the pa- 
pers. He is a popular lecturer throughout the country. 

Mr. Gallaher is of the medium height, of good proportions, and 
erect figure. His face and whole appearance is very plain, and, 
while he looks altogether an humble- minded, unobtrusive person, 
there is a quickness in his eyes and a general intelligence about his 
countenance, which show him to be a man of thought and ability. 
He has a head of the average size, with regular features, and wears 
his hair combed behind his ears. He is affable and genial with all 
classes of people. A peculiarity about him, at all times, is a nervous 
impulsiveness, which often borders on excitement. 

Entering the pulpit, he falls carelessly into a seat, runs his fin- 
gers through his hair, moves the books about, crosses first one leg, 

213 






REV. HENRY M. GALLAHER. 

and then the other, and in many ways gives token of this ever-present 
nervousness. At the proper time, with a sudden start, he takes his 
place at the desk, and begins the services with nervous abruptness. 
Should he read a hymn, he holds the book by one corner, allowing 
the cover to fall, while with the baud that is free he fumbles the cor- 
ners of the Bible. In prayer his hands sweep all over the same 
book, sometimes between the leaves, and then over the pages, 
and occasionally he gives a turn to the hymn-book. Meanwhile 
a torrent of words is falling from him. There is no cessation — 
no pause — no breath-taking about it. As fast as he can speak — 
hurrying, crowding, lapping one word upon another — they are 
poured forth, rather than intelligibly articulated. These singular 
mannerisms, and this extraordinary volubility of speech weaken, 
but do not destroy the impressions of his prayer. His whole 
soul is in it, and he evidently feels the inspiration of spiritual 
communion. It seems as if he could pray thus on and on for hours. 
There is no hesitation for a new theme of petition any more than 
there is a deficiency in words to express it. Topic after topic is taken 
up, all with the same earnestness, the same Christian love, and the 
same ardor of faith. At length, alone from exhaustion, he abruptly 
checks himself, opens his eyes, and proceeds to the other services 
with a continued nervousness. When he reads, it is with the same ' 
haste, speaking in a loud key, and then very low, in holy abstraction 
more than to give a correct elocutionary reading of the passage. 
Here again, notwithstanding his peculiarities, he is very effective — 
there is honest feeling in his tone, and the words which he wishes to 
press home to others have already touched his own sensibilities. 

His sermons are written out quite fully, but his nervousness is 
such that he reads but little from the. manuscript. He repeats a line 
or two, when he rushes to the front of the pulpit, and delivers him- 
self of the thoughts which crowd upon him faster than he can speak 
them. His self-possession, for a young man, is very great, and he 
speaks with the full power of the natural orator. He does not talk 
as rapidly as in his prayer and reading, but still he has an extraor- 
dinary command of language. You notice the accent of the Irishman 
very decidedly, and in his style of thought and emotional utterance 
there are to be found other characteristics of his nation. The order of 
his sermon is well preserved in his memory, and however much he 
may be carried off into extemporaneous outbursts, the argument is 

logically maintained. He moves nervously from side to side of the 

214 



REV. HENRY M. GALLAHER. 

pulpit; he places himself against the large gas- fixture, or he leans 
forward, looking into the very eyes of the people. Sometimes his 
hands are in his jDockets, sometimes under his coat-tails, and some- 
times in his hair. His arms cleave the air in every gesture ever at- 
tempted, and his body assumes every attitude which can be made 
expressive of feeling. All the time he talks, and talks well. It is 
not mere declamation, mere wordy outbursts, mere eloquence, but it 
is comprehensive thought, practical religious instruction, and candid 
counsel. To be sure there is a want of polish and dignity in many 
of his ways, and his forms of expression are not always the most 
scholarly, but he stands in the equally noble proportion of an emi- 
nently common-sense Christian teacher. Neither crowds nor places 
put any restraint upon him. Dignity, and what he would call prud- 
ish refinements, give him no concern ; but his desire is to seem, as 
he truly feels, no higher than the humblest. The conventionalities 
of the clerical life and the vanities of human nature do not disturb 
him, while manly uprightness and the lofty Christian character are 
his sole ambition. 

Mr. Gallaher is an excellent singer, and it is his custom to join 
with his congregation, leading them in a manner not often seen on 
the part of a minister. We noticed another peculiarity in his trans- 
ferring himself from the pulpit to the lobby, where he shook hands 
with all passing from the b adding. 

215 



REV. THOMAS GALLAUDET, D. D., 

RECTOR OF ST. AJVTV'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH 
FOR. DEAF MUTES, NEW YORK. 




EV. DR THOMAS GALLAUDET was born in Hart- 
ford, Connecticut, June 3d, 1822. His father was the 
Rev. Thomas H. Grallaudet, LL. D., a Congregational 
minister, who founded the first Institution for Deaf 
Mutes in the United States, at Hartford, in 1817, and his 
mother, before her marriage, was Miss Sophia Fowler, a born 
deaf mute, and one of Dr. Gallaudet's first pupils. She is still liv- 
ing, and is the matron of the Institution for Deaf Mutes at Washing- 
ton, D. C. Dr. Thomas Grallaudet is the eldest of eight children, all 
living but one. He was graduated at Trinity College, Hartford, in 
1842, and taught in Connecticut for one year. In September, 1843, 
he became an instructor in the Institution for Deaf Mutes in New 
York, and soon after a communicant of St. Paul's Chapel. He was 
admitted by the late Bishop Onderdonk as a candidate for holy 
orders, and pursued his theological studies privately. Iu July, 1845, 
he married Miss Elizabeth R. Budd, only daughter of the late Dr. B. 
W. Budd, of New York, and a graduate of the New York Institu- 
tion for Deaf Mutes. He was ordained deacon in the summer of 
1850, at St. Stephen's Church, New York, by Right Rev. Bishop 
Whittingham, of Marvland, and here he preached his first sermon. 
For about a year he waa assistant minister at St. Stephen's, though 
still teaching daily at the Institution for Deaf Mutes. In the sum- 
mer of 1851 he was ordained priest by Bishop Delancey, of Western 
New York, at Grace Church, Brooklyn. During 1851-2, he officia- 
ted mostly at St. Paul's, Morrisania, and had a weekly evening Bible 
class for educated deaf mutes in New York — first in the vestry- room 
of St. Stephen's Church, and then at No. 59 Bond street. Says Dr. 
Grallaudet, in a letter addressed to us : "I was called upon from time 
to time to act as pastor among these deaf mutes, residents of our 

city — baptizing some, presenting some for confirmation, and receiv- 

216 









'C^L^^& 



REV. THOMAS GALLAUDET, D. D. 

ing some to the holy communion. At last the thought entered my 
mind that I would found a church in which the adult deaf mutes 
might find a spiritual home. The first services were held in October, 
1852, in the small chapel of the New York University. The church 
was incorporated under the title of ' St. Ann's Church for Deaf 
Mutes.' In November, 1857, we removed to the lecture-room of the 
Historical Society building, corner of Second avenue and Eleventh 
street. In the fall of 1858 I resigned my connection with the Insti- 
tution, to give myself more exclusively to my duties as rector of St. 
Ann's. In July, 1859, we purchased our present property in Eigh- 
teenth street, near Fifth avenue, including the church and rectory, 
and the four lots on which they stand, for seventy thousand dollars. 
As is now well known, we have three services at St. Ann's Church 
every Sunday, the afternoon being for deaf mutes. At the other 
services, (conducted as in any other Episcopal church,) frequent in- 
terpretations by signs are given for the benefit of deaf mutes. Our 
church is entirely free, supported by the free-will offerings of the 
worshipers. As rector of St Ann's Church, I strive to do all in my 
power to promote the temporal snd spiritual welfare of the deaf 
mutes, residents of this great city and its suburbs. When thev are 
out of work I get situations for them. I visit them and minister to 
their necessities in time of sickness and trouble. I have received many 
to the communion. The kind-hearted hearing and speaking persons, 
who have gathered around these our deaf mute brethren in parish re- 
lations, have assisted me greatly in my work." 

Dr. Grallaudet received the degree of D. D. from Trinity College, 
in July, 1862, just twenty years after his graduation. He has pub- 
lished various pamphlets in relation to his church, and several ser- 
mons. He is the author of a popular Christmas Carol, entitled " The 
Day of Days." Through his instrumentality, monthly religious ser- 
vices were established in Boston and Philadelphia; and finally 
regular Sunday services in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Albany, and 
Boston. Occasionally they are held in other cities. St. Ann's is the 
only church in the United States which takes any special interest in 
the graduates of the various institutions for the deaf mutes. The 
deaf mute community of the United States number upward of twenty 
thousand. 

Dr. Gallaudet and his deaf mute wife have been blessed with 
seven children (five daughters and two sons) having all their facul- 

217 



EEV. THOMAS GALLAUDET, D. D. 

ties. They have learned the signs and spoken language, so as to 
converse readily with both father and mother. 

Dr. Gallaudet is about of the medium height, and has a fair com- 
plexion and light hair. His face is a likeness of his heart. It is 
truly benevolent in. every lineament. He has a fine brow, though 
the lower portion of the face is more long than broad. His eyes are 
soft and gentle, and his voice is ever kindly and sincere. No man 
could be better adapted for the duties of a teacher and pastor among 
such an afflicted class of human beings as the deaf mutes. One look 
at him is sufficient to awaken their entire confidence and love. There 
is a benignity which satisfies the longings of their saddened spirits, 
and there is a gentleness of manner which tells them of sympathy 
and regard. In his presence their hearts feel less desolate, and the 
golden sunshine chases the gloom from their paths. Recoiling from 
the cold-hearted, thoughtless world, they are made aware of a kind- 
ness which they lamented as extinct ; they are aroused to effort by 
friendly encouragement ; and they are invoked to repentance by a 
language which is in signs of their own.' 

There has been much to inspire Dr. Gallaudet to his constantly 
extending labors in behalf of the temporal and spiritual condition of 
the deaf mutes. It should be remembered that he is the son of a 
mother thus limited in her faculties, and yet devoting a great intelli- 
gence to the elevation and happiness of her class — the son of a father 
whose name is to be forever memorable by reason of the great phil- 
anthropy and varied talents which he devoted to the founding of the 
first institution for deaf mutes in this noble land, and the husband of 
a lady who is one of the crowning examples of the triumph of mind 
over misfortune. His efforts have been prompted by teachings al- 
most from the cradle ; and they have been encouraged by results 
which brought joy to those of his own love. Vouchsafed himself to 
hear and speak, he has made it his patient, self-denying task to in- 
struct those not similarly blessed in a mode of intelligent signs by 
which art seeks to supply, in a measure, the short-comings of nature. 
He has worked earnestly, and with great success. Many afflicted 
beings, through his excellent teaching, have become educated mutes, 
and thus attained to a new and brighter existence. Their minds 
have been carefully cultured, they have been prepared for different 
occupations of life, and the way once so dark and difficult has been 
made plain and happy. Much was gained, but Dr. Gallaudet felt 
painfully conscious that there was still a want unsupplied. The 

218 



EEV. THOMAS GALLATJDET, D. D. 

deaf mutes had no church organization ; there was no altar where 
they could gather understandingly ; no pastor who was devoted to 
their spiritual welfare. He resolved to found such a church, to ex- 
tend the Christian invitation from such an altar, and to fully assume 
the duties of such a pastor. The undertaking presented vast obsta- 
cles, and was only to be accomplished by faith in God's providence 
and by unceasing toil. Hopeful and courageous, he entered upon 
his darling scheme, and has persevered with that enthusiasm which 
deserves and generally obtains success. He finds that he has laid 
broad foundations for a great and good work, and that it prospers 
even beyond his most sanguine expectations. The congregation 
gains in numbers, a heavy debt is rapidly decreasing, and at an early 
period there will be a church free to deaf mutes and all others. 
Greater publicity is given to the cause of the deaf mutes, and their 
interest has become the concern of many new and powerful friends. 
All this is mainly due to the energetic, self-sacrificing efforts of Dr. 
Gallaudet, and justly entitle him to universal applause. 

He is a man of liberal attainments, and a fluent, earnest preacher. 
In his public appearances he seeks no display. He is most modest 
in his bearing, but convinces all of his virtues, merits, and piety. 
He adopts plain, comprehensive language, which is spoken with 
much earnestness of manner and warmth of appeal. But he is at no 
time more sublimely the Christian teacher than when his lips are 
motionless, and he is delivering holy truths by perfect and eloquent 
signs. Those whom the sweetest sound could not attract, and who 
are mute to all utterance forever, receive intelligibly the message of 
grace. It is a triumph beyond oratory. It is a presentation of the 
argument of faith in a new discovered tongue. It is the anointing 
of souls which otherwise might go unhealed into eternity. 

219 



REV. JOHN N. GALLEHER, 

HECTOR OF ZIOIV EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 
NEW YORK. 




EY. JOHN N. GALLEHEE was bora in Masou county, 
Kentucky, February 17th, 1839. After pursuing aca- 
demic studies in that county, he entered the Latin School 
of the University of Virginia, where he was graduated in 
J|) 1858. He went to Louisiana, but returned to Kentucky 

*gQ at the outbreak of the war, and he became a private in the 
command of General Albert S. Johnston. Acting as secretary of 
General Buckner, he went to the front, and, taking part in the bat- 
tle of Fort Donelson, he was captured and sent a prisoner first to 
Camp Chase in Ohio, and then to Fort Warren in Boston harbor. 
In July, 1862, he was exchanged, when he received an appointment 
to the staff of General Buckner, and with him accompanied General 
Bragg's famous expedition into Kentucky. He subsequently held 
the different ranks of captain, assistant adjutant-general, and lieu- 
tenant-colonel, and at the close of the war was in the Trans-Miss- 
issippi Department, still on the staff of General Buckner. 

He then commenced the study of law, and was graduated at the 
law school of Judge Brockenbrough at Lexington, Virginia, in 1866. 
He was admitted to the bar in Louisville, Kentucky, and practiced 
for one year. At this date he determined to become a candidate for 
holy orders in the Episcopal Church, and, accordingly, took a partial 
theological course at the General Theological Seminary, New York. 
In June, 1868, he was made a deacon at Christ Church, Louisville, 
by Assistant Bishop Cummins of Kentucky. He remained as assist- 
ant to the Kev. Dr. Clark, at Christ Church, until January, 1869, 
when he was called to the rectorship of Trinity Church, New Or- 
leans, as the successor of the Bev. Dr. John W. Beckwith, who had 
been elected Bishop of Georgia. He was admitted to the priesthood 
in June, 1869, at Trinity Church, New Orleans, by Bishop Vfilmer of 







tZS 






'S^>^-^7 



Ct^^r\ _ 



REV. JOHN" K. GALLEHER. 

Louisiana. He continued in that parish for nearly three years, 
when, in the fall of 187.1, he was called to Memorial Church, Bal- 
timore, from which he was called, September 21st, 1873, to Zion 
Church, on Madison Avenue, New York. 

At an early period this congregation was Lutheran, but became 
united with the Episcopal denomination in 1810. This action 
was taken by reason of a change in the religious views of both pas- 
tor and people. For a long period they worshiped in Mott street. 
In 1835 their present edifice, on the corner of Madison avenue and 
Thirty-eighth street, was erected. 

Mr. Galleher is above the medium height, with a round, erect 
person. He has a stately, dignified walk, and his manners at all 
times give evidence of the composed, self-possessed character. A 
slight reserve with strangers disappears on more intimate acquaint- 
ance. His head is large, and firmly placed on his shoulders. The 
whole face is full of expression. In all respects both the physical 
and meutal powers show great development. Often in the man of 
Southern birth you observe more that is impulsive than you do in 
Mr. Galleher, for while he is quick to feel and determine, still he is 
never hasty, never excited, and never without method. The fact 
is, he is by nature a person of cool reflectiveness, and his large ex- 
perience in the world has trained and subdued him even more to 
the direction of his own calm will. Hence in the pastoral and all 
other work he is a safe counselor and an unwearying laborer. He 
has penetration and foresight, and he has a steady patience and en- 
ergy. His agreeable personal character and his life of piety go far 
to make him admired and influential, but his success is secured by 
practical wisdom and perseverance in action which are always 
equally apparent. In all branches of the pastoral duty, in preaching 
and in writing, in the Sunday School, and in works of benevolence, 
he is always conspicuous for fidelity to every claim upon him, and 
for the highest ability in his mode of discharging them. Showing 
deep convictions of his responsibility, he is found constantly labor- 
ing in his appointed place, with results at once significant of his 
judgment, talents, and faithfulness. In the pulpit his gifts as a 
speaker, his originality of thought, and his polish of language are 
not less effective. 

Mr. Galleher went into the ministry from the deepest personal 

conviction. Already in a profession offering the widest scope for 

talents and ambition, he prepared himself for another of a sacred 

221 



REV. JOHN N. GALLEHER. 

character on the promptings of a converted heart. His opportunity 
for observation among men has been greater than is generally the 
case with clergymen, and this circumstance has given him addi- 
tional power in his preaching and other efforts. He is no stranger 
to the world or men in the conflict between good and evil. Conse- 
quently, he is a very effective preacher in dealing with the tempta- 
tions of life, and human opportunities and hopes. On these subjects, 
especially, he is a close, philosophical thinker, and awakens an ab- 
sorbing interest in his audiences. He penetrates to the truth of 
human motives, however hidden ; he tenderly unfolds the daily life 
and aspirations of man, and he paints in glowing language the bliss 
of religion and virtue, while he tempts the froward heart to penitence 
and peace. His voice rings out in tones of melody, and he stands 
strikingly impressive in his stature and bearing, No one can 
doubt his sincerity, and no one can fail to feel the force of his rea- 
soning, and the thrill of his eloquence. Preacher and people are 
thus made one in sympathy and purpose, and they go forth from 
these ministrations alike anointed with heavenly grace, and inspired 
with a stronger courage in faith and duty. 

222 



REV. HARVEY D. G-ANSE, 



PASTOR OE THE 3IA.OJS03V AVENUE REFORMED 
CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




)EV. HAEVEY D. GANSE was born at Fishkill, Dutcb- 
ess county, New York, February 27th, 1822. He was 
graduated at Columbia College, New York, in 1839, and 
in theology at the Seminary at New Brunswick, New 
Jersey, in 1843. During the same year he accepted a call to 
the Keformed Church at Freehold, New Jersey, where he re- 
mained until 1856. He then became the pastor of the Northwest 
Protestant Keformed Dutch Church of the City of New York, now 
known as the Madison Avenue Be.Tormed Church, over which he has 
presided with great acceptability for a period of seventeen years. 

This congregation was organized by order of the Classis of New 
York, by the installation of four elders and four deacons, on the 17th 
day of April, 1808 ; a previous meeting for the election of those 
officers having been held on the 27th clay of January in the same 
year. Bev. Dr. Livingston, of the Collegiate Dutch Church of New 
York, presided at both of these meetings. The church began with 
one hundred and forty members, of whom more than two-thirds, or 
nearly a hundred, had been dismissed for that purpose from the 
Collegiate Church. The first church edifice in Sugar-loaf (afterward 
Franklin) street was dedicated on the same day on which the first 
Consistory was ordained ; Dr. Livingston conducting both services. 
This building was burned in 1839, and was at once re-built on the 
same site. In 1854 the congregation removed to a new church which 
had been erected on West Twenty-third street, between the Sixth 
and Seventh avenues, a location, then far up-town. Fifteen years 
later the continued up-town movement of the population obliged 
another removal to be determined upon. In 1869 a sale was made 
of the Twenty-third street property, and lots were purchased on the 
corner of Madison avenue and Fifty-seventh street. The corner-stone 
of a new edifice was laid on the 23d of May, 1870, in the presence 

223 



REV. HARVEY D. GANSE. 

of a large congregation. Addresses were made by a number of the 
city minister of different denominations. The church is an impos. 
ing building of Oliio stone in Eomanesque style. There is a main 
building, which will seat nearly eleven hundred people, and a lec- 
ture room also of commodious size. The spire is one hundred and 
eighty-eight feet high. By decree of Court, the name from the 1st 
of January, 1871, was changed to Madison Avenue Beformed Church. 
The pastors of the church have been Bev. Christian Bork, from 1808 
to 1823 ; Bev. George Duboise, from 1824 to 1837 ; Bev. Christopher 
Hunt, from 1837 to 1839; Bev. James B. Hardenberg, from 1840 
to 1856 ; Bev. Harvey D. Ganse, from 1856 to the present time. 

Mr. Ganse is about of the medium height, with an equally pro- 
portioned figure. He has a sandy complexion, and wears spectacles. 
His head is fully developed in the intellectual section ; both his 
appearance and manners impresses you with the fact that he is a 
diligent student and thinker. He always shows a great deal of ab- 
sorption in whatever task or duty may engage him, but is never 
without all proper courtesy to those with whom he comes in contact. 
He is, in the largest sense, a minister of Christ and the pastor of his 
flock. Nothing turns him aside from the duties and responsibilities 
which rest upon him. Throughout his career he has been a model 
to his professional brethren, and a cherished guide of the religious 
community at large. Failing in nothing, but rigidly correct in all 
things, by whatever test has been applied to him, he has exerted an 
influence wide in its ramifications, and still no more than such a man 
should enjoy. The strong and controlling element of his nature is 
conscientiousness. He applies it strictly to every personal act, great or 
small, and to the actions of all other persons. Policy and com- 
promises in life, or the church, are never thought of by him ; but he 
follows the light of conscience and duty wherever it may lead him. 
Consequently he is a strong man in the community, and a still 
stronger one in his denomination. 

As a preacher he is a person of facts rather than fancy. He 
preaches to the point, with entire command of all the bearings of his 
subject, and interests wholly by the language of religious instruction, 
which is imparted in a manner of unmistakable sincerity and serious- 
ness on the part of the speaker. These pages relate the career of no 
man who is more worthily doing the work of the ministry. 

224 



REV. GEORGE J. GEER, D. D., 

XIECTOR OF ST. TIMOTHY'S EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




EV. DR. GEORGE J. GEER was bom at Waterbury, 
Connecticut, February 24th, 1821. His early studies 
were at Cheshire Academy, which was under the direc- 
tion of the Rev. A. C. Morgan, a well-known instructor 
that period. He was graduated at Trinity College, Hart- 
ford, in 1842, and at the Episcopal General Theological Sem- 
inary, New York city, in 1845. He was made deacon in the latter 
year at Christ Church, Hartford, by Bishop Brownell, of Connecticut, 
and priest in 1846 at Christ Church, Balston Spa, by Bishop Delancey, 
of western New York. Soon after graduation he had been called to 
Christ Church, at Balston Spa, and he discharged the duties of a very 
efficient rectorship in this parish for seven years. At the end of this 
time he was invited to the more extended field of an assistant to the 
Rev. Dr. Robert S. Howland, at the Church of the Holy Apostle, in 
Ninth avenue, New York. He officiated in this parish from 1853 
until November, 1863, a term of thirteen years. During the latter 
portion of this time he had received a call to the parish of St. Timothy, 
in the upper section of the city, which he did not immediately accept, 
though he undertook to attend to the pulpit supply. At length, 
however, he accepted the call, and entered regularly upon the parish 
work in which he has since been engaged. Dr. Geer received his 
degree of D. D. from both Union and Columbia Colleges in the same 
year. 

St. Timothy's parish was founded by the Rev. Mr. Tracy, who 
desired to afford church accommodations for Episcopalians in the 
growing population of the up-town wards. The first preaching was 
in a small building in Fifty-first street ; and in 1853 a church edifice 
was erected in Fifty-fourth street, west of Eighth avenue. This 
building was occupied by the congregation for seven years, until 1860, 
when it was sold to the Baptist congregation under the pastoral care 

225 



EEV. GEORGE J. GEER, D. D. 

of the Rev. Dr. Williams. An eligible site on Fifty-seventh street 
was then purchased, where a chapel was erected, which was first 
occupied on Easter Day, 1867. This chapel has seatiug accommo- 
dations for five hundred people. A lai - ge portion of the site has been 
reserved for the erection of a handsome church edifice at no distant 
day. A wealthy and highly respectable class of population are fast 
filling up all of this section, which is immediately adjacent to the 
Park, and the congregations here planted will in the future be the 
most numerous and important of the city. 

Dr. Geer is about of the average height, with a round figure. He 
is a person of active temperament and movements. His head is large 
and round, with regular features of much amiability. He has, in 
fact, one of those bright open faces which it is a pleasure to look at 
It has nothing sinister, nothing ignoble, and nothing unpleasant 
about it Yon read in it the good heart, the faithfulness to moral 
and religious principles, and the culture and intelligence, which to- 
gether form the highest standard of character. His maimers are not 
less agreeable to contemplate. He is not without dignity — and no 
clergyman should be — but it is modified by so much real, hearty good 
feeling and geniality that you are at once placed on the most friendly 
and intimate footing with him. No person ever went into his pre- 
sence, no matter of what station, who found him anything but cour- 
teous and genial, and at the same time did not think that he main- 
tained all the dignity and circumspection which were proper in his 
calling. 

Clothed with marked and many graces of character, Dr. Geer is 
peculiarly armed for his work in the field of the Lord. He goes 
about it with an earnest spirit and a cheerful heart. He makes no 
failures, for he is persevering, and not less practical. He always 
works harder than anybody else. Whatever may be the measure of 
his success, be it small or great, he is neither discouraged nor elated. 
But he keeps straight on. Cheerful and confident, bold and deter- 
mined, he sweeps away obstacle after obstacle, and, in the end, often 
astonishes those who are looking on, at his signal triumphs ; but never 
himself, as he has not allowed his sanguine nature to contemplate 
anything short of success. He is sanguine, but only so because he 
has faith in works and prayer. Without these he expects nothing. 
As neither are never wanting, he has always a great hopefulness. 

He has been emphatically a worker in all the parishes he has been 

connected with. He does not believe in an ornamental inefficient 

226 



REV. GEORGE J. GEER, D. D. 

ministry, but in one that earns success by work, struggles, and hero- 
ism. If the sheep do not come to his flock, he goes after them. 
Self-sacrifice, toil, in season and out of it, vigilance, and faith, are the 
great sources upon which he relies. He does not stand aloof from 
his fellow-men, nor is he satisfied to do certain official things in an 
official way, but he is every man's friend and servant and comforter. 
His large heart, and his invincible spirit gave sincerity and force to 
all his undertakings, and he stands foremost among his cotemporaries 
for the earnestness and success of his whole ministerial career. 

As a preacher, Dr. Greer is sound, logical, and persuasive. He 
has a good voice, and his manners are unexceptionable. He preaches 
as if he felt its responsibility, and his tender, while serious, words go 
far to arouse the same feeling in his hearers in regard to their own 
condition. The effect of this preaching is to awaken reflection. He 
does not send the audience home talking of extraordinary bursts of 
eloquence, but they go away edified and comforted in holy truths. 



227 



REV. F. W. GEISSENHAINER, D. D., 

PASTOR OF ST. PAUL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH, 

NEW YORK. 




\h 



EV. DR FREDERICK WILLIAM GEISSENHAINER 

was born at New Hanover, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
vania, June 2Sth, 1797. His father was Rev. Dr. Fred- 
vj^s" erick William Geissenliainer, a native of Prussia, an 
^p early Lutheran minister in this country, and a man of great 
«&3 learning. This gentleman was distinguished for intelligence, 
and was particulary noted for thorough scholarship in Hebrew, Latin, 
and Greek He was also a profound mathematician, mineralogist, 
and botanist, and of extensive scientific acquirements. He is said to 
have been the first to discover the value of anthracite coal for 
melting iron. For a number of years he officiated as pastor of Christ 
Lutheran Church in Frankfort street, New York. This church is 
well remembered as being the only church in New York, beside the 
Episcopalian, which escaped desecration at the hands of the English, 
it being attended by the Hessian soldiery, who were Lutherans. The 
senior Dr. Geissenhainer died in 1838. 

The subject of our present notice came to New York with his 
father at an early age, and received his education, both academic and 
theological, from his father and other instructors who were employed. 
He was licensed as a minister of the Lutheran Church in 1818 at the 
early age of twenty years. He was first settled over a congregation 
at Vincent, Chester county, Pennsylvania, where he remained ten 
years. He was then called to St. Matthew's Church, in Walker 
street, New York, where the services were conducted in English. 
He continued in this position about fourteen years. The congrega- 
tion of Christ Church at length became the possessors of the pro- 
perty of St. Matthew's, and took that name. 

Dr. Geissenhainer now determined to found a new organization, 
and established his present church, known as St. Paul's. The first 
preaching was in a hall in Eighth avenue. A church was erected in 

228 



REV. F. W. GEISSENHAINER, D. D. 

1842 on the corner of Sixth avenue and Fifteenth street, mainly 
through the liberality of Dr. Geissenhainer himself. It is a fine stone 
structure, and the whole property is now. valued at some eighty thou- 
sand dollars. Dr. Geissenhainer commenced his organization with 
eleven poor families : but the congregation has now one thousand 
three hundred communicants, and the Sunday school has between six 
and seven hundred scholars. The principal service is in the German 
language, but one is in English, for the benefit of the young people, 
who, as a general thing, speak that language. Through Dr. Geis- 
senhainer's efforts and pecuniary means a large Lutheran Cemetery 
has been established. 

The Lutheran Church was established in the American colonies at 
an early period. There was a church in New York in 1659, which 
was called Trinity, and stood in Broadway, near Wall street, but was 
destroyed in the great fire after the city fell into the possession of the 
English, and another in Georgia in 1748. There was no general or- 
ganization of the church, however, until the arrival of Eev. Dr. Henry 
Melchoir Muhlenberg at Philadelphia, about 1742, who was a distin- 
guished European scholar, and gathered the first synod or conference 
of the ministers in that city. In 1795 there were from three to four 
hundred clergymen, and from four to five hundred congregations. 
There are now 2,309 pastors, 4,115 congregations, and 435,000 com- 
municants. During 1873 there was an increase of 134 pastors, 289 con- 
gregations, and 27,000 communicants. It is estimated that in the city 
of New York alone there are at least one hundred thousand Lutherans, 
who support thirteen churches. Pennsylvania and Ohio have the 
largest population of Lutheran believers. Missions are maintained 
by the American Church in Asia, Africa, Canada, and Texas. About 
three years since a theological seminary was established in Philadel- 
phia, for the education of young men for the ministry, which has 
a learned faculty of seven professors and about thirty students. At 
an earlier period of the church the want of such an institution was 
supplied by the appointment of four ministers, whose duty it was to 
instruct young men for the ministry. Eev. Dr. Geissenhainer, Sr., 
was one of these instructors. 

Dr. Geissenhainer is about the medium height, sparely made, and, 
for a man of his years, has a great amount of activity. His head is 
more long then round, and his face is very decidedly of the German 
type. His features are small and regularly molded, and his eyes 
are lit with a keen and often times merry twinkle. There is great 

229 



REV. F. W. GEISSENHAIKEE, D. D. 

flexibility in his features, and all Lis emotions are vividly shown in 
his countenance. He is a person of much vivacity and cheerfulness 
of manners, and his conversational powers are such that he is a most 
attractive social companion. His manners are not only courteous, 
but so genial and unassuming that you find yourself, though a stran- 
ger, on the very best terms with him in the shortest possible time. 
He talks upon any and all subjects with knowledge, animation, and 
interest, and shows himself at once the profound scholar, the shrewd 
observer of the world's affairs, and the genial gentleman. 

Dr. Geissenhainer preaches an original and very practical sermon. 
He is a logical, pointed writer, as are all the thinkers of the German 
cast of mind; and while he comes very directly to the idea he wishes 
to convey, his argument in maintaining every proposition is absolute 
and overwhelming. He deals mostly in those themes which invite 
a learned expounding of the scriptures, and a full exposition of the 
moral obligations which are incumbent upon mankind. His peo- 
ple go to him for religious instruction, and they get it It is given 
with the authority of a man holding a sacred commission to proclaim 
the truth, and likewise with the tender concern of a father, solicitous 
for their temporal and spiritual welfare. 

He has a clear, distinct voice, and is emphatic in his manner of 
delivery. He is equally acceptable as a speaker in the German or 
English languages, having them both fully at his command. There 
is an ever-present dignity and seriousness about him in the pulpit, 
and everything that he does is in evident recognition of the sacredness 
of the place and occasion, and of the responsibility resting upon him- 
self as a religious teacher. 

Dr. Geissenhainer has done a great work among the people of his 
ancestral race. While he has not wished to unlearn them in the 
language and habits of the Fatherland, he has been able, from his 
knowledge of the American people and society, to make the strangers 
at home in the new land, and at the altar of their religion. At St. 
Paul's church the German language is spoken in all its purity, and 
the forms and services are those of the European Lutheran church ; 
and still it is a congregation with its members loyal to the American 
government, and with all their interests identified with that of the 
country of their adoption. Their pastor, in his extensive scholarship 
and high moral character, is a fitting type of the great and good in 
the land beyond the sea, at the same time that he stands prominent 
as an American citizen, and one of the foremost theological expound- 
ers of the American Church. 

230 



REV. CHAMCEY GILES, 

PASTOK OF THE jN"EW JERUSALEM HOUSE 
OF AVORSHIP, NEW YORK. 




»EV. CHAUNCEY GILES was bom at Charlemont, 
Franklin county, Massachusetts, May 11th, 1813. His 
early studies were at a seminary under the charge of Rev. 
sj^f*®* James Ballard, at Bennington, Vermont. He entered 
MSI "Williams College, but was obliged to withdraw by reason of ill. 
health. He taught school for several years at Fishkill, Roch- 
ester, and Palmyra, in the State of New York. In 1840 he re- 
moved to Ohio, and continued teaching at Hamilton, Lebanon, and 
Pomeroy until 1853. He had been con verted to the Swedenborgian or 
New Jerusalem faith while settled at Lebanon in 1846 ; and while at 
Pomeroy in May, 1853, he was licensed and ordained to preach. There 
are three degrees in the Swedenborgian ministry, in the first of which 
the minister is allowed to preach and baptize ; in the second, to ad- 
minister the Lord's Supper and solemnize marriage ; and in the third, 
authority to ordain is given. Mr. (riles passed regularly through 
these degrees. In 1854 he was called to the First New Jerusalem 
Society in Cincinnati, where he remained until May, 1864. At the 
latter date he accepted the pastorship of the First Society in New 
York, over which he has now been settled nine years. 

The First Society has a large and tasteful edifice on Thirty-fifth 
street, between Park and Lexington avenues, and is the only organi- 
zation of the kind in New York. There are one hundred and fifty 
members, and the attendance is about four hundred. The Sunday 
School has over one hundred scholars. The congregation own three 
lots, and the original improvements cost about sixteen thousand dol- 
lars, all of which was paid. The church has been enlarged at an ex- 
pense of seventeen thousand dollars. 

The New Jerusalem Church is founded on the doctrines first 
broached by Emanuel Swedenborg, a Swedish philosopher and re- 
ligious writer, who was bora in Stockholm, January 29th, 1688, and 

231 



REV. CHAUKCEY GILES. 

died in London, March 29tb, 1772. His first religious work, pub- 
lished in 1749, under the title of " Arcana Celestia ;" or, " Heavenly 
Arcana which are contained in the Sacred Scriptures, or Word of the 
Lord, laid open, beginning with Genesis, together with Relations of 
Wonderful Things seen in the World of Spirits and the Heaven of 
Angels." 

He says, in regard to this work : " It is not unknown to me that 
many will say that a man can never speak with the spirits and angels 
while he lives in the body ; and many that it is fantasy ; others that 
I relate such things to gain credit ; and others other things ; but I do 
not hesitate on this account, for I have seen, have heard, have 
touched." He published his last work at Amsterdam, in 1771, 
under the title of " The True Christian Religion, containing; the Uni- 
versal Theology of the New Church foretold by the Lord in Daniel, 
chap, xii, 13, 14, and in the Apocalypse, chap, xxi, 1, 2." When 
on his death-bed, he was asked " to declare whether all he had written 
was strictly true, or whether any part or parts thereof were to be ex- 
cepted." He replied with warmth : " I have written nothing but the 
truth, as you will have it more confirmed hereafter all the days of 
your life, provided you always keep close to the Lord, and faithfully 
serve him alone, in shunning evils of all kind as sins against him, 
and diligently search his Word, which, from beginning to end, bears 
incontestible testimony to the truth of the doctrines I have delivered 
to the World." 

" There are a number of well authenticated cases in which Swe- 
denborg communicated facts," says another, " his knowledge of which 
is deemed by the receivers of his doctrines wholly inexplicable with- 
out supposing him to have had communication with the spiritual 
world. He never sought, however, to make any demonstration of 
this knowledge, nor does he anywhere in his published works appeal 
to them as evidences of his mission or the truth of his doctrines. 
They seem to have been mere incidents of his life." 

The following account is given of the comparative increase and 
forms of the New Church : 

"A century has elapsed since the commencement of the New Church, and the 
numher of those who openly profess to be receivers of its doctrines and members 
of the church is still comparatively small. It is greatest in the United States and 
England. These doctrines find, however, zealous advocates in France, Germany, 
Sweden, Switzerland, and indeed, in almost every portion of the Christian world. 
In England there is a General Conference of the New Church, which holds an 
annual session in different parts of the kingdom. In the United States there is 

232 



REV. CHAUNCEY GILES. 

also a General Convention of the New Church, which meets annually in different 
places. There are church societies in both countries not in connection with these 
organizations. The General Conference has published a liturgy which is very gen- 
erally used in England. A liturgy has also been published, and from time to time 
revised, by the General Convention of the New Church of the United States. 
Several periodicals, both in England and America, are devoted to the elucidation 
and dissemination of its doctrines, and various able writers have published works 
for the same purpose. In the public worship of the New Church, in this country, 
generally speaking, no prayer but the Lord's prayer is used. The music consists 
mostly, and in many places entirely, of chants and anthems, the words of which 
are taken from the sacred Scriptures. The liturgy of the General Convention, be- 
sides the liturgized portion of the Book, contains two hundred and forty pages of 
scriptural selections, with suitable chants and anthems. The words of Scripture 
are regarded by the New Church as possessing an influence and a power in worship, 
whether in prayer or singing, altogether above those of any merely human composi- 
tion. " 

The New Church was first established in the United States about 
1820, in Baltimore. It is strongest in Massachusetts. The New 
Jerusalem Messenger, the organ of the denomination, is published in 
Boston. There is one society in New York, another in Brooklyn, 
and another in Hoboken. 

Mr. Giles is regarded as one of the most powerful writers of his 
denomination. He is the author of several books respectively en- 
titled " The Incarnation, Death, and Mediation of the Lord Jesus 
Christ;" "The Nature of Spirit, and of Man as a Spiritual Being;" 
" Heavenly Blessedness, Meet it is, and How Attained ; a Series of 
Discourses on the Beatitudes;" "Vital Questions Answered," and of 
many published sermons. 

In his personal appearance Mr. Giles is plain and unassuming, 
with much of the clerical dignity. He is under the medium height, 
well-proportioned, and active. He is evidently one of those men 
who can endure a great deal of patient labor without feeling it any 
tax upon a strong and vigorous body and mind, and also one of 
those who prefer to make no parade of anything that is accom- 
plished. His head is round, with a prominent brow, and otherwise 
intelligent and amiable features. His manners are courteous and 
friendly ; but there is always a reserve and modesty about him, un- 
less he is specially brought forward. He has a mild and cheerful 
disposition, and a frankness and amiability which are particularly 
engaging with young people, over whom he has always exerted a 
most happy influence both as teacher and minister. 

Mr. Giles is an interesting and impressive preacher, without the 
slightest effort on his part at anything like display. Indeed, his Ian- 

233 



REV. CHAUNCEY GILES. 

guage and manner are simple and undemonstrative in the extreme, 
but characterized by a great deal of religious solemnity. His ser- 
mons are replete with argument — sometimes, too, of a deeply meta- 
physical character ; but the great feature is a tender and affecting 
elucidation in regard to those impulses in the human mind and 
heart which are to be trained into the fully developed religious na- 
ture. The carnal and the spiritual conditions, the sins which debase, 
and the perfect love which elevates, the soul's yearnings for the 
higher state of heavenly beatitude, the road by faith and works to 
attain it — all these, and others, are the constant themes which absorb 
the mind of the Swedenborgian minister. Mr. Giles, like all his 
brethren in that ministry, discusses them in a manner which is most 
likely to arrest the attention of the reflective hearer. They do not 
desire to effect conversion by the powers of oratory or rhetoric, but 
by establishing the doctrines as accepted and understood truth in the 
mind and conscience. They appeal to intelligence, to conviction of 
moral and religious duty, and to the impulses of human nature, sof- 
tened and bettered by the baptism of love and religion. In making 
all this plain there is abundant room for the use of learning, but more 
especially for the exercise of keen powers of theological and philoso- 
phical reasoning. The Swedenborgian ministers and authors excel 
in these particulars, and the people at large are noted as a most in- 
telligent class of believers. 

Mr. Giles is greatly esteemed, not only for his intellectual talents, 
but for a consistent, upright private life. He became a convert to 
his particular faith by a long and earnest course of investigation, and 
since its public adoption he has always sought to exemplify his doc- 
trines, as far as possible, by his daily practices. He has a stern re- 
solution in maintaining his principles, and a deep conscientiousness 
in regard to all his actions. While he is without a vain and selfish 
ambition, still he is desirous to achieve a distinction which may be 
useful to his denomination and the cause of morals and religion gen- 
erally. To this end he has already devoted his fine intellectual 
abilities as a writer and preacher, with a success which is affirmed by 
the popularity of his literary works as denominational books, and his 
high position as a pulpit expounder. 

234 



- 



REV. A. D. GILLETTE, D. D., 

OF THE: AMERICAN A1VX> FOREIGN BIBLE 
SOCIETY, NEW YORK!. 




'EV. DR A. D. GILLETTE was born at Cambridge, 
Washington county, New York, Sept. 8th, 1807. He is 
one of four brothers who entered the ministry, only one 
of whom beside himself is now living. His education 
was obtained at the District School and the Greenville Academy, 
5f3 Washington county. He pursued a theological course at Madi- 
son University, and also privately, likewise enjoying the privileges 
of a university student at Union College. In September, 1831, he 
was ordained at Schenectady, and installed as pastor of the Baptist 
church in that city, where he remained nearly four years. He be- 
came pastor of Sansom street Baptist Church, Philadelphia, in May, 
1835, in which position he continued until 1839, when he went to 
the Eleventh street church, a congregation formed out of the Sansom 
street organization. In 1852 he was called to New York, to take 
charge of Calvary Baptist Church, now in West Twenty -third street, 
but formerly known as the Broadway Baptist Church. He received 
the degree of A. M. from Union College, and that of D. D. from 
Madison University. Many invitations have been addressed to him 
to take other positions in the pastorate, and from various institutions. 
He was twice, in an interval of four years, elected chaplain of the 
University of Virginia, at Charlottesville. He wrote, in conjunction 
with his elder brother, Rev. W. B. Gillette, a memoir of Bev. D. H. 
Gillette, and is also the author of a life of Dr. A. Judson, of Burmah, 
several pamphlets, published sermons, and some fugitive poetry and 
prose in newspapers and magazines. He introduced the missionary, 
Judson, to the lady who subsequently became his wife, and he en- 
joyed relations with them, and the cause in which both were distin- 
guished, of the most intimate nature. 

In January, 1861, he left Calvary Church to become the pastor 
of the First Baptist Church in Washington, D. G, where he remained 

235 



REV. A. D. GILLETTE, D. D. 

five years. Having lost his health he went to Europe, and passed a 
year in agreeable relaxation. After his return he took the pastoral 
care of the Gethsemane Baptist Church, Brooklyn, for a year and 
eight months. He then became Corresponding Secretary of the 
American and Foreign Bible Society, which position he still holds. 

Dr. Gillette is slightly above the average height, and broad in 
proportion. His complexion and hair are light. His manners are 
easy and cordial, and his conversation is fluent. He evidently makes 
no claim to unusual dignity, but desires to appear an unassuming 
gentleman. He is of a cheerful, hopeful disposition, and friendships 
made with him are generally lasting. 

He preaches with considerable power and eloquence. His text is 
well-elucidated, and he always embellishes his sermons with efforts 
of his fancy. His impulses are quick, and he is disposed to take the 
brighter view of life's pictures. This is soon apparent in all inter- 
course with him, and is particularly observable in his writings. He 
is a great comforter for the sorrowing heart. With a nicer skill than 
any surgeon in the case of a physical wound, he seeks to extract the 
fangs of grief. He is not satisfied with cold, formal, professional 
words, but his own bosom is filled with concern until the darkness 
of sorrow in the heart of his friend yields to the softly falling rays of 
generous, kindly consolation. There is no sky in which he cannot 
find a star ; no fate in which he cannot discern a good Providence ; 
no destiny which he cannot make beautiful with hope. In these and 
the other social duties of a pastor he is greatly and justly appre- 
ciated. 

Dr. Gillette is very popular with his brethren of the ministry of all 
denominations. In every good work he is found among the fore- 
most, assisting with discreet counsels and laboring with a heroic 
spirit. His genial nature, his cheering confidence, and his eminent 
piety, everywhere, and at all times, commend him as a congenial and 
successful co-laborer. "Widely known, universally beloved, an ac- 
complished student, a popular preacher, the name and qualifications 
of Dr. Gillette find no mean place in the annals of the metropolitan 
clergy. 



REV. EZRA H. GILLETT, D. D., 

LiA-TIE PA8TOB OF THE H^TtlLIEM: PRESBYTB- 
BIAN CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




EY. DR. EZRA H. GILLETT was born at Colchester, 
Connecticut, July 15th, 1823. He prepared for college at 
Bacon Academy in that town, under Myron N. Morris, 
and, entering Yale College, was graduated at that institu- 
tion in 1841. After graduation he studied a full term at the 
Union Theological Seminary, New York, where he had charge 
of the library in 1844, and was graduated the same year. He was 
licensed by the Third Presbytery of New York, and in December, 
1844, commenced preaching as a supply in the pulpit of the Harlem 
Presbyterian Church. In the spring of 1845 he was invited to be- 
come the pastor, and, having accepted the call, was ordained and 
installed on the 16th of April following. In 1846, the synod of 
New York and New Jersey divided the Third Presbytery, forming 
the Fourth, and attached this church to it. Dr. Gillett remained 
pastor until April, 1870, a period of twenty five years. At first the 
church was very feeble, having only fourteen members, but it finally 
became a prosperous body. A new church edifice was dedicated 
August 22d, 1844, which was sold many years after, and the present 
fine property on One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street purchased. 
In 1872 a Lecture Eoom was erected on a portion of this site, and a 
large main edifice is to be built. 

Dr. Gillett is now Professor of Political Science in the University 
of the city of New York, to which he was appointed in 1869. He 
preaches frequently in New York and vicinity. Dr. Gillett received 
his degree of D. D. from Hamilton College, New York, in 1864. 
He is the author of the following works, viz : " A translation of 
Luther's Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and Jude," one 
volume; "Life and Times of John Huss," two volumes; "History 
of the Presbyterian Church in the United States," two volumes ; 
"Life Lessons," one volume ; " England Two Hundred Years Ago;" 

237 



KEV. EZEA H. GIL LETT, D. D. 

" Ancient Cities and Empires : their Prophetic Doom read in the 
Light of History and Moslem Research," one volume, and "What 
Then ? or the Soul's To-morrow," a tract. Most of these volumes 
have been published by the Presbyterian Publication Committee. 
Philadelphia. 

Dr. Grillett is of the medium height, sparely made, erect, and ac- 
tive. His head is round, with an agreeable face, having small, 
regular features. His brow shows a great deal of intellectual de- 
velopment, and his sharp, clear eyes, beam with peculiar intelligence. 
His manners are simple and courteous, and evince an humble and 
obliging disposition. Indeed, there is something particularly notice- 
able in the perfect humility of Dr. Gillett's character. He has made 
himself somewhat famous as a preacher and author, and still he does 
not seem to be aware of it, or does not care about it He arrogates 
nothing to himself in the way of pride and dignity, and while he 
toils in the same direction with unabated zeal, it is evidently for the 
purpose of doing good rather than to satisfy any ambition of his own. 
As an instance of his personal feelings, it may be mentioned that he 
never uses his honorary title in any of his works which remain under 
his control. On more than one occasion he refused offers of posi- 
tions which were pecuniarily much more to his advantage than the 
pastorship he held. He is a great student and teacher, and he has 
devoted no inconsiderable part of his income to the collection of a 
rare and extensive library, which is the source of all the pride he 
allows himself to feel. In his library and out of it, at home, books 
are his companions. His mind is a perfect encyclopaedia of well 
digested lore, covering the whole limit of learned and polite literature. 
His memory is little less than wonderful, and whatever he rea Is is 
accurately retained for after use. In his writings he is fond of illus- 
trations from other minds, and he is prolific of those references which 
take the widest range. He seldom uses notes in the pulpit, and it is 
said that in two hours after preparing his longest discourse he has 
every line of it committed to memory. Many of his sermons are en- 
tirely extemporaneous. 

Dr. Grillett is one of the ablest preachers in the New York pulpit 
His sermons are powerful in argument and in diction, if written, and 
are scarcely less profound, while more fervent and touching in lan- 
guage, when extemporaneous. He is fluent, and his active, eager 
mind turns from point to point and topic to topic with the facility 
given by inexhaustible resources of scholarship and observation. 

238 



GUSTAY GOTTHEIL, PH. D., 

ASSOCIATE HAJ3J3I AJST> ENGLISH PTtEACHER 
OF THE TEMPEE EMANUEL, NEW YORK. 




iEV. DR GUSTAV GOTTHEIL was bora at Pinne ; 
May 28th, 1827. His elementary and Hebrew education 
was in the local schools, and his classical and rabbinical 
studies were at Posen. Later, he pursued an academical 
course at the University of Berlin, and a theological 
i course under the direction of Funz, Lebrecht, Steinschneider, 
and Holdheim. In 1855 he was appointed one of the ministers 
to a reform congregation at Berlin, and in 1860 was elected rabbi of 
the Congregation of British Jews in Manchester, England. He gave 
evidence of high scholarship and much force of character in both of 
these positions, and drew upon himself the attention of the religious 
and intelligent classes. In 1873 he was elected one of the rabbis of 
the Temple Emanuel, New York, and entered upon his duties in 
the autumn of that year. Some months before he had visited New 
York, and been received by the congregation, when he returned to 
Manchester, and made his preparations for a permanent residence in 
New York. The eminent Bev. Dr. Samuel Adler for many years 
has been the rabbi and German preacher of the congregation, and Dr. 
Gottheil was called as his associate, and as a preacher in the English 
language. He receives a salary of six thousand dollars a year, and, 
as is the custom with the Israelites, the contract is for a term of years. 
The services of the Jewish ritual are highly interesting, and the 
reform temples of New York, especially, are visited by many Chris- 
tians. The language of the prayers and chants in the Hebrew, and 
German and English translations, is exceedingly solemn and beauti- 
ful. An impressive part is the opening of the Ark and taking out of 
the Pentateuch, or scrolls of the law, which the poet Croswell thus 
delicately describes : 

" The two-leaved doors slide slow apart 
Before the eastern screen, 
As rise the Hebrew harmonies, 
With chanted prayers between ; 
239 



REV. GUSTAV GOTTHEIL, PH D. 

And mid the tissued rails disclosed, 

Of many a gorgeous dye, 
Enveloped in their jeweled scarfs, 

The sacred records lie." 

Aside from the interest of the services, there are reflections which 
naturally arise in the sanctuary of this extraordinary people. These 
are the children of Israel, the early people of God, and through ages 
a scattered and persecuted race. Contemplate them in awful cove- 
nant with the Creator of mankind ; trace them in the splendid eras' of 
their greatness ; remember them when " the vail of the temple was 
rent in twain from the top to the bottom ; and the earth did quake," 
in the dying hour of the rejected king ; behold them exiles from their 
country, and pilgrims throughout the earth. Grandest of the nations 
of antiquity, most scorned of all peoples of modern time, they have 
a distinctiveness from all other races, and have been as proudly Jews 
in shame as ever in glory. Heathen and Christian governments and 
communities have alike persecuted tbem ; they have been reviled and 
spit upon, massacred and trodden under foot ; but they have exult- 
ingly foretold a day when Judea should again be great, with her new- 
come Messiah, her re-united tribes, and her uprisen temples. 

Dr. Gottheil is of the average height, with a round and erect 
figure. He is in the prime of physical development and activity, and 
he shows it in his constant energy and buoyancy of spirits. His 
manners are extremely polite and fascinating. He has a large head, 
with a full face, which is equally expressive of intelligent and 
amiable characteristics. In social life he is greatly admired, for his 
polish and ease of manners, and his warm and genial disposition, 
while in his public relations he also exerts the widest possible in- 
fluence. 

He preaches with much vigor of mind and eloquence of delivery. 
A learned man, he has also those quick and keen natural powers of 
penetration which go to the root of every thing, and he is a close ob- 
server of both events and men. Hence he always speaks with a clear 
understanding of his theme, and with opinions of human affairs 
which are based on sound knowledge and judgment Distinguished 
in other lands for talents, virtues, and success, he is not likely to fall 
short of extended renown and usefulness in the one which is the scene 
of his present labors. 

240 



REV. CHARLES H. HALL, D. P., 

RECTOR OE THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY 
TRINITY, (EPISCOPAL,) BROOKLYN. 




>EV. DR. CHARLES H. HALL was born at Augusta, 
Georgia, November 7th, 1820. "When quite young he 
attended an academy at Andover, Mass., and was graduated 
at Yale College in 1842. His theological studies were 
partly in private, and one year at the General Episcopal Theo- 
logical Seminary, ISTew York city. He was ordained deacon 
by the Right Rev. Benjamin T. Onderdonk, Bishop of New York, 
at St Paul's Church, Red Hook, in 1844, and priest by Bishop 
Brownell of Connecticut, at Fair Haven in that State, in November, 
1845. His first settlement was as rector of St. John's Church, 
Huntington, Long Island, in 1845, where he remained two years. 
At Easter, 1847, he took charge of the Church of the Holy Inno- 
cents, at West Point, officiating likewise as the pastor for the Military 
Academy. After remaining at West Point two years, he removed 
to South Carolina, where he became rector of St. John's Church, St 
John's Island, which position he held for eight years. In 1856, he 
was called to the rectorship of the Church of the Epiphany, Wash- 
ington, one of the most wealthy and influential parishes of that city. 
The congregation was composed about equally of northerners and 
southerners. Among the latter were Jefferson Davis and his family. 
During the whole period of the war, Mr. Davis' pew was occupied 
by Secretary of War Stanton. Several of the chief officers of the 
government and army were regular attendants. It required great 
address and firmness on the part of Dr. Hall to preserve calmness 
and Christian concord in his congregation at such a time of public 
excitement, regarding the war, at the capital of the nation. "Few 
men," says a recent authentic statement, " would have succeeded in. 
standing clear of offense, especially at a period when churches were 
too often turned into political assembly -houses, and our preachers 
forgot the gospel of Christ in that of the Constitution. Dr. Hall, 

241 



REV. CHARLES H. HALL, D. D. 

however, was pre-eminently the right man in the light place. Eeal- 
izing his hio-h vocation as an ambassador of Christ, he determined 
to know nothing and to preach nothing among his people save ' Jesus 
Christ and Him crucified.' At this the young and headstrong were 
discontented — they wanted political harangues and party denuncia- 
tions. The graver and wiser members, however, approved his course. 
Secretaries and statesmen did not go to church to learn politics from 
their clerg} r meu ; and thus, through all the heat and fever of that 
nervous time, the rector of the Church of the Epiphany steered his 
pastoral bark safely through the smooth waters of a tranquil Chris- 
tian faith. He believed firmfy in the great doctrines of the nation, 
and that however dark appeared the national horizon, a morning of 
joy would at length break upon the night of heaviness, and the 
storm-clouds of war and hatred would, in Cod's good time, pass 
away." 

Dr. Hall preached a sermon of great power and impressiveness 
on Easter day, 1865, the second day after the assassination of Presi- 
dent Lincoln. In October of the same year, he delivered another on 
" Conscience : in its Eelation to the duties of the citizens of the 
State," which was published, and dedicated to his parishioner, the 
late Hon. Edwin M. Stanton. He was the rector of the Church of 
the Epiphany for a period of twelve years, and by his position ob- 
tained a national reputation for learning and eloquence. 

On the election of the Eev. Dr. A. 1ST. Littlejohn, then rector of 
the Church of the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn, to the newly-created 
bishopric of Long Island, a call was extended to Dr. Hall to become 
the rector of this important parish. He accepted, and entered upon 
his duties on March 1st, 1869, and has secured a wide popularity. 

Holy Trinity Church is a splendid stone pile on the corner of 
Clinton and Montague streets, a section which is known as Brook- 
lyn Heights. This church was erected by the munificence of 
Edgar J. Bartow, Esq., a citizen of Brooklyn. It was designed by 
that greatest of American architects, the late Lefevre, and the found- 
ation was commenced on April 1st, 1844. The cost of the property 
was not less than one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, 
which was then regarded as a very large sum to expend for a church 
site and edifice. The church was entirely completed by Mr. Bartow, 
with the exception of the spire. The rear portion of the main 
building is a chapel, and there is also a fine rectory on Montague 
street There are two hundred and twenty-six pews, which will seat 



REV. CHARLES H. HALL, D. D. 

about twelve hundred people. This grand and capacious edifice was 
first opened for religious services on Trinity Sunday, April 25th, 
1847. The chapel had been opened on Trinity Sunday, June 7th, 
1846. Being private property, it was not consecrated for several 
years, during which time it was under the rectorship of the Rev. Dr. 
Lewis, a relation of the owner. Dr. Lewis formerly had charge of 
Calvary Church ; and the original Holy Trinity congregation was 
largely made up from this parish. At length, Mr. Bartow became 
involved in pecuniary difficulties, and the church was found to be 
mortgaged, chiefly for business indebtedness, to the amount of one 
hundred thousand dollars. In the spring of 1856 a sale of the 
church, under a third mortgage for over thirty thousand dollars, was 
about to take place, when such arrangements were made that it passed 
into the possession of the congregation. The church was consecrated 
in the autumn of 1856. Though laboring under a debt of more 
than thirty thousand dollars, prosperity at once dawned upon the 
parish. Dr. Littlejohn was now called. During his rectorship the 
debt was paid off, and the church fully completed by the addition of 
the spire, which is two hundred and eighty-four feet high. The 
contributions during the year 1863 were nearly twenty-seven thou- 
sand dollars. In January of the same year over twenty thousand 
dollars were laid on the altar at one time for the reduction of the 
debt, which, with the income from the pews, gave the handsome 
sum of nearly forty thousand dollars for the year. In eight years 
the contributions were two hundred and sixty thousand dollars. In 
1864 the number of communicants was three hundred and ten, 
whereas at this time the number is five hundred and fifty- The 
regular Sunday school has three hundred children, and a large 
Mission Sunday school is maintained on Fulton Avenue. 

Dr. Hall received his degree of D. D. in 1860, from three col- 
leges at the same time, viz : Columbia College, New York, Hobart 
College, Geneva, and St. James College, Maryland. Beside a large 
number of sermons, he has published two important works. These 
are "Notes on the Gospels," in two volumes, and "True Protestant 
Ritualism," a reply to the work of Bishop Hopkins entitled "The 
Law of Ritualism." In this latter work he states in a very learned 
and forcible manner the views of the Low Church branch of the 
Episcopal denomination. He holds that Ritualism is antagonistic 
alike to the Gospel and the Church. 

Dr. Hall is of the medium height, well-proportioned, erect, and 

243 









REV. CHARLES H. HALL, D. D. 

active. His head is more long than round, but every part of it is 
finely cast and strictly intellectual. The brow is especially perfect, 
rising, as it does, large and high, from the very eyebrows, while 
beneath the deep-set, but bright, and dark, firm eyes beam forth in 
never-ceasing intelligence and gentleness. His dark hair is slowly 
changing to an iron-gray, and his face has the full maturity of a per- 
son of his years. His manners are courteous, self-possessed, and 
dignified. From both his countenance and manners you are instantly 
impressed with the ability and agreeable personal qualities of the 
man. If ever a face was a window to the mind, this one surely is, 
and the same vivid interpretation can be attained from his demeanor. 
You see that he is a man of great power of mind and energy. His 
natural ability and acquired learning rest on the broadest possible 
foundations, and his industry and perseverance in any and all labor 
are of the most positive and vigorous kind. Kind-hearted and gentle 
for most occasions, he can be lion-hearted and inflexible when these 
qualities are necessary. A clergyman and student, and a book- worm 
as he is, still he is a shrewd observer of all the world's affairs and. of 
mankind. His eyes see everything that comes before him, and his 
brain penetrates to every source and means of human information. 
He is learned, and he is well-informed, he is a conscientious priest, 
but not less an observing man. AVith these traits of character, with 
this thoroughness of education and observation, with this complete 
self-possession and energy, he is eminently fitted for the highest 
success in the ministry. He is a safe guide and example in all things. 
He makes no mistakes in his policy or proceedings, and he holds up 
. no uncertain lights for himself or anybody else. Far-seeing, prac- 
tical, self-reliant and courageous., he is one who is the master of every 
situation, and naturally a leader of men. In all his parishes he has 
stood among the people as their devoted and fearless spiritual and 
moral guide, and his marked talents and personal character have 
been such as to awaken the utmost confidence and respect. The 
soldiers of Napoleon never relied more on the wisdom and ability of 
their great chieftain than do the parishioners of this able divine on 
his leadership in the path of Christian duty. 

Dr. Hall, in his published works and sermons, has shown a fine 
literary taste and remarkable vigor of diction. He writes in smooth, 
terse, compact sentences, and his arguments are logical in the ex- 
trema He has imagination in his style of illustrating beautiful and 
original thoughts, but he is far from being impassioned, or simply 



REV. CHARLES H. HALL, D. D. 



giving heed to elegance of oratory. He reasons everything. He 
looks simply to the doubts and obstacles in every subject, and he 
addresses himself solely to their overthrow. Scholarship, literary 
experience, fluency of brain, and the ready pen, are all brought into 
active service, with results which are alike creditable to him as a 
thinker and writer. Hence his books and his sermons are very 
readable, and have had an extensive circulation among the learned 
and religious classes. 

The pulpit has few, if any, in it, of more power with the multi- 
tude, than Dr. Hall. He is in no sense sensational, and practices no 
arts to attract attention or win approval. In fact, he shows how 
needless all these things are with a preacher of actual power of mind. 
Intelligence of a high or the lowest order can no more turn away 
from these sermons, in which the scholar and logician so brilliantly 
appear, than the magnetic needle can turn from the pole. It is an 
array of logical, well expressed ideas, which only the fool can fail 
to appreciate. It is not a mere pleasing of the fancy and taste with 
choice diction, but it is an unfolding of a great and comprehensive 
mind. Seeking light you find it; asking for bread you do not get 
a stone. 

245 



REV. JOHN HALL, D.D., 

PASTOR OF THE FIFTH AVENUE PRESBY- 
TERIAN CHURCH, NEW YORK!. 




)EV. DR. JOHN HALL was bom in the county of Ar- 
magh, Ireland, July 31st, 1829. His ancestors removed 
from Scotland to the north of Ireland in one of those ex- 
tensive emigrations which gave character to the province 
of Ulster, designating it as Protestant, in contrast with 
the south of Ireland, which is almost wholly Catholic. He 
first saw the light in the house occupied by his family for six suc- 
cessive generations. His father was an elder in the Presbyterian 
Church, and a man also of social influence. At the early age of 
thirteen he was entirely prepared to enter Belfast College, where he 
carried off a prize for Hebrew. Having been graduated, he became 
a convert in the church of his fathers, and entered upon a course of 
studies for the ministry. He proved himself the foremost of his class, 
uniformly taking prizes at the examinations. In June, 1849, he 
was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Belfast He at once 
accepted a call, not from a congregation, but from his own class, to 
go as their missionary to a station among a Roman Catholic popu- 
lation in the west of Ireland. Only twenty years of age, and fresh 
from the academic halls, it was a trying position for him, but he 
showed himself equal to all its demands. More than this, he re- 
ceived a training which was a great after service to him. He was 
next called to the church at Armagh, the capital of the county of the 
same name, and the seat of the archi episcopal see of the Primate of 
Ireland, where he was installed June 30th, 1852. Of him in this pastor- 
ship it was said : " Youthful, healthful, and vigorous, he devoted 
himself most earnestly to all departments of pastoral work. Labor- 
ing unceasingly all day, and studying frequently all night, his influ- 
ence now began to tell upon the country. 

In 1858 he accepted a call to the Church of Many's Abbey, "now 

246 



REV. JOHN HALL, D. D. 

Kutland Square, in Dublin, where he took his stand foremost among 
the preachers of the Irish Capital, and its men of letters and public 
influence. His scholarly investigations were given, not only to usual 
theological studies, but to those matters of scieuce which some of 
the most brilliant intellects of the Old World were attempting to 
turn against the Bible. He received from the Queen the honorary 
appointment of Commissioner of Education for Ireland, and per- 
formed its responsible duties, without fee or reward, until his re- 
moval to the United States. With his usual earnestness of spirit, 
he sought to secure to his countrymen an undenominational educa- 
tion and literature. His name was proposed for the moderatorship 
of the Irish General Assembly, but though personally popular, he 
was defeated on account of his known opposition to religious estab- 
lishments. In 1867 he was a delegate of the Irish General Assem- 
bly to the Presbyterian Church of the United States. He was 
received by the Old School General Assembly, in session at Cin- 
cinnati, the New School at Eochester, and by other Presbyterian 
bodies, with a great deal of warmth and courtesy. His addresses 
and sermons, wherever delivered, were extremely eloquent. 

About this period, the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church of 
New York was seeking a pastor ; and, though Dr. Hall had never 
been heard by the members, a unanimous call was extended to 
him in the autumn following his visit to the United States. He at 
once accepted, so deeply had he been interested in the country, and 
was installed on the evening of November 3d, 1867. 

The Fifth avenue and Nineteenth street congregation, belong- 
ing formerly to the Old-school branch of the Presbyterian Church, 
many years since worshiped in Cedar street: then removed to 
Duane; and finally constructed a fine edifice on the corner of Fifth 
avenue and Ninteenth street For a long period it was under the 
pastoral charge of the distinguished Rev. Dr. James W. Alexander. 
In April, 1861, the Rev. Dr. N. L. Rice, a very learned and emi- 
nent man from the Kentucky, St. Louis and Chicago churches, be- 
came the pastor, who, in turn, was succeeded by Dr. Hall. Since 
the coming of Dr. Hall, the congregation has, in fact, grown and 
strengthened in every way. Crowds attend each service, and great 
vitality and personal zeal are shown in all branches of the Christian 
work Dr. Hall has certainly secured the warmest affection of the 
people. His week-day services, and his Bible class, are attended 

both by his own members, and those of other denominations. 

247 



REV. JOHK HALL, D. D. 

At tbe date of this writing, a magnificent church is in course 
of construction for this congregation, on the corner of Fifth avenue 
and Fifty-fifth street, over a mile and three-quarters further up town 
than the church corner of Nineteenth street. The corner-stone was 
laid with appropriate ceremonies, on Monday, June 9th, 1873, and 
the completed building will cost four hundred thousand dollars. 

Dr. Hall is much above the medium height, and has a large, full, 
sturdy-looking figure. He has plenty of bone and strength. There 
is force of brain and of body. His head is round, with marked in- 
tellectual characteristics, and a cast of features peculiar to the cul- 
tivated Irishman. His manners are not without dignity, but they 
are always most respectful and agreeable with all persons. His ap- 
pearance is clerical, as he adheres to the " white cravat " and the 
plain attire of the eariy ministers. A man of scholarly taste, and 
thorough devotion to the manifold duties of the ministerial posi- 
tion, he is cheerful and animated in all social intercourse. He is 
frank and genial, has just and generous views on all subjects, and 
quickly endears himself to those with whom he comes in contact 
You at once discover, however, that he is a person of strong charac 
ter, and capable of exerting a powerful influence by reason of both 
great talents and energies. Hopeful and earnest, able and conscien- 
tious, he shows a happy union of those qualities which are pleasing 
in social life and invaluable in a public career. 

His contributions in the religious press are frequent and able. 
He is in much demand as a speaker on public occasions. It is his 
custom to spend his summer vacations in Ireland, where he passes 
a few months among his relations, and ministerial friends. 

Dr. Hall is a profound theological scholar — not one of your sur 
face, showy men. He is one who has spent midnight oil to some 
purpose — one who has gained a clearness and power of understand- 
ing that illuminate and expound the deeper topics of theological 
and classical scholarship. His doctrines are matters of faith, but 
his preaching is a scholarly labor. He aims not at eloquence, at 
fine writing, at sentiment and fancy, but he seeks, with all the ability 
and force of a profound mind, to expound the Scriptures, and discuss 
human motives and duties. In law there are pettifoggers and spe- 
cial pleaders; and in the ministry there are sophists and talkers of 
commonplaces. He is great, indeed, in any sphere, who is entitled to 
be called an expounder. In such a man there must be a breadth 

and scope of intellect which approach to the godlike. Before it, the 

248 



REV. JOHN HALL, D. D. 

lesser understandings are dwarfed and dumb. Before it, doubts, 
misconceptions, and ignorance are no more than mists meeting the 
effulgent sun. 

Dr. Hall is an expounder of the Scriptures. He teaches them 
as he explains them. He does not merely make statements, but he 
proves assertions. He argues, illustrates, examines, penetrates, and 
convinces. It is not prudent for sceptics to talk with him, or listen 
to his sermons. He has an armor of scholarship which has served 
him in many a tilt with heresy and irreligion, and he has those keen 
powers of natural intelligence which give the greatest force to argu- 
ment and persuasion. When a man is converted under the preach- 
ing of Dr. Hall, he is not likely to have any doubts either as to faith 
or his duty. He will have not only an awakened soul, but an un- 
derstanding mind. He will feel that his feet have been turned into 
a new path, and also know that his own mind has been so enlight- 
ened that he is capable of guiding them aright in the future. 

We do not call Dr. Hall an orator, in the common acceptation 
of that term. He makes no demonstrations, he is calm and moder- 
ate in both language and gestures, and still he is deeply impressive. 
But it is the impressiveness of dignity, of solemnity, and of learning. 
There is solid intellectual and religious food for the mind, and there 
is the pathetic appeal to principle and duty. All is said kindly, 
but forcibly. All is said under a full conviction of obligation on 
the part of the speaker, and with no motive or policy in regard to 
any person or circumstance. His heart and mind are fully interest- 
ed in his efforts. Standing immeasurably above any human influ- 
ence or ambition, and as eager for the attention and salvation of the 
beggar as the millionaire, he is a preacher who has won fame by a 
consistency and devotedness which are worthy of all imitation. 
His ministry has been a great success in all places, and this end 
is the sum of his ambition and pride. 

249 



REV. BENJAMIN I. HAIGIIT, D.D., 

ONE OF THE ASSISTANT MINISTERS OF TRIN- 

TTY PARISH, OFFICIATING AT ST. PAUL'S 

CHAPEL, NEW YOKK. 




'EV. DK. BENJAMIN I. HAIGET was born in the 
city of New York, October 16th, 1809. He was gradu- 
ated at Columbia College in 1828, and at the Episcopal 
General Theological Seminary in 1831, being ordained the 
same year. He was settled as the first rector of St. Peter's 
Church, and thus remained for three years. Daring this time 
he was librarian of the Seminary. From 1881 to 1837 he was rector 
of St. Paul's Church, Cincinnati, and then returning to New York, 
officiated at All Saints' Church for nearly ten years. He did not al- 
low his duties as rector to prevent him from accepting the acting pro- 
fessorship of Pastoral Theology at the General Theological Seminary 
in 1837, and, becoming professor in 1841, he held the position until 
June, 1855. His connection with Trinity parish commenced in 1855, 
subsequent to which he went abroad in greatly impaired health, re- 
maining some three years. On his return he was assigned to St Paul's 
Church, with which he is still associated. He was secretary of the 
convention of the diocese for twenty years, and member and secre- 
tary of the standing committee for ten years. He is one of the oldest 
trustees of Columbia College, from which institution he received the 
decree of D. D. in 1846. He has published a small volume of ser- 
mons, and other occasional sermons and addresses. In 1873 he was 
elected Bishop of Massachusetts, but declined the office. 

Dr. Haight is of the medium height, and stout, with some inclina- 
tion to corpulency. He has a large, round head, with the face full, 
fat and ruddy. His countenance has a serious, reflective, and half- 
anxious repose, which, however, under certain influences, changes to 
a peculiarly animated, gladsome expression. He is a man of the 
most thoughtful attention to duty, showing an entire absorption of 
mind in his daily professional avocations. Hence he is always found 

250 



REV. BENJAMIN I. HAIGHT, D. D. 

active and busy, allowing nothing to draw him away from a hearty 
and practical application of his energies to his Christian work. A 
long career of manifest usefulness is a sufficient proclamation of his 
consistency of faith and practice, which even moderate personal asso- 
ciation is sure to confirm, both by declaration and deeds. While 
thus given up to his religious duties, his mind is free from that 
gloominess, and his manners of that austerity, not unusual with the 
clergy. On the contrar} T , Dr. Haight has a cheerfulness of spirits and 
a geniality of character of the most appreciable description. With a 
studied decorum natural to a public man, he mingles those conside- 
rate unbendings of dignity which give a charm to social intercourse, 
and with those of congenial temperaments he indulges in a flow of 
spirited, lively, entertaining conversation. The reserve, formality, 
and coldness noticeable in him while in the discharge of his public 
functions, disappear in private. He is entirely approachable, friend- 
ly, and communicative. Moreover, he is diffident of his own merit 
and humble of his own performances, his only pride being in the 
fidelity and zeal of his labors. Eegarded in his public or private re- 
lations, he is equally deserving of praise, and in each exhibits those 
characteristics which prove most acceptable in the preacher and the 
man. 

Dr. Haight's style of preaching does not differ materially from that 
of the majority of Episcopal ministers. His sermons are brief, and 
embody the plain, direct inculcation of moral and religious truths 
without the slightest attempt at fine writing or brilliant delivery. He 
evidently sets out with the single purpose of offering appropriate pul- 
pit teachings, and there rests satisfied, without any efforts calculated 
to invoke encomium for the individual. There is much impressive 
solemnity in his preaching, however. Speaking with few changes 
of his voice, and using but little gesture, still his manner is so ex- 
pressive of personal seriousness and responsibility, and his tone is 
one of such earnestness and kindliness, that the heart is prone to be 
touched by something quite as potent as the silvery strains of elo- 
quence. Whatever he says is said so clearly, that no one can fail to 
understand his meaning ; whatever he condemns is condemned emphat. 
ically, and whatever he upholds is upheld zealously. 

It is a sermon in the correct sense — a considerate and seasonable 
lesson from the holy desk — a shepherd's voice calling to earth's scat- 
tered fold, and, as such, leaves a permanent influence far exceeding 

that of the more ostentatious kind of discourse. 

251 



REV. BENJAMIN I . HAIGHT, D. D. 

Dr. Haight's title to public approbation and private love proceeds 
from bis true and noble excellence of character, and great usefulness 
as a man. His labors have been, and are, truly valuable to the 
church and the community. As a rector in various parishes, as a 
theological professor, and as a coadjutor in many departments of 
Christian and educational enterprise, he has been a patient and faith- 
ful worker, seeking neither emoluments nor honors, but simply to toil. 
This, in a word, is his career. Quietly, unobtrusively, and with 
never-ceasing diligence, he has moved in a wide sphere of duty, at- 
tracting little public remark, but gathering to himself the affections 
of many illustrious cotemporaries, and writing his name in the hearts 
of the host made worthier through his teachings and example. 

252 



REV. SAMUEL M. HAMILTON, A. M., 

JUNIOR PASTOR OF THE SCOTCH PRESBYTB 
RIA.1V CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




EV. SAMUEL M. HAMILTON" was born at Conlig, 
Down County, Ireland, April 19th, 1848. He was 
graduated at Queen's University, Belfast, in 1868, tak- 
the degree of B. A., and in the following year that of 
A. M. In 1870 he was graduated in theology at the 
jig Presbyterian Assembly College in Belfast. Having been licensed 
by the Presbytery of that city, in May, 1870. he was called to the 
pastorship of the Great George's Street Presbyterian Church, Belfast, 
and was ordained in November of the same year. He officiated most 
acceptably for two years and a half, making an extended reputation 
for the preaching of sound doctrines, and an earnest, pious devotion 
to his work. A call was now given him by the Scotch Presbyterian 
Church, New York, under the pastoral care of the venerable and 
distinguished Rev. Dr. Joseph McElroy, to take the chief charge of 
this congregation on the retirement of the pastor, by reason of age and 
infirmities, which he accepted, and came to the United States. He 
was dully installed over the Scotch Church on the second Sunday in 
October,' 1873. 

This congregation was organized about a century ago, being com- 
posed of a body of seceders from the First Presbyterian Church. 
They were originally known as the First Associate Reformed Church, 
and later by their present title of Scotch Presbyterian. A new 
church having been erected on the corner of Grand and Crosby 
streets, it was occupied in 1837, and this was given up in 1853 
for still more costly structures on West Fourteenth street The 
property extends from Fourteenth to Fifteenth streets, and with the 
church and a school house on the last named street, cost over one 
hundred thousand dollars. 253 



REV. SAMUEL M. HAMILTON, A. M. 

Mr. Hamilton is an erect, gracefully proportioned person, witn a 
face beaming with intelligence and good nature. His manners are 
polite and cordial. Yon see at once that he is a cultivated, warm- 
hearted gentleman, and are naturally drawn to him as such; but 
there is so much of genuine and unaffected friendliness about his 
speech and actions, that even a stranger feels toward him like an old 
friend. Looking at his face, you see no line there which does not 
declare him to be an intellectual and upright man. His brow is con- 
spicuous for its evidences of the first, and the other features, by every 
type from which judgment can be formed, declare him to be a man 
of unswerving principle. In his relations as a clergyman he is a 
model in all respects. Strong and clear in his judgment, conscien- 
tious and devoted, learned and unthinking of toil, he discharges his 
duties with efficiency and success. He is still a young man, and the 
future daily unfolding before him, is to make the reputation by which 
he will be judged. But it is now to be seen that he is laying broad 
and deep foundations. An absorbed and brilliant student, he is pro- 
perly seeking in sound and thorough theological learning the basis of 
his power in the pulpit. He preaches already with the fluency and 
vigor which come from talents, constantly enlarged under such a 
course of training, and he has made his mark in the American, as he 
did in the Irish pulpit. A pious man, an earnest scholar, and an 
eloquent preacher, he is worthily a colleague in the pastorship with 
the great McElroy. 

254 



REV. THOMAS A. T. HANNA, 

PASTOR OF THE FIFTH BAPTIST CHURCH, 
BROOKLYN (E.X>.) 




EV. THOMAS A. T. HANNA was born in the North 
of Ireland, August 6th, 1842. The family removed to 
Scotland, where he lived until seven years of age, when 
they came to the United States. His father was a far- 
mer in Ireland. His grandfather was the Eev. Dr. 
Alexander Corson, a well known Irish writer on Baptism, 
Church Government, and Providence. He has one brother 
already in the ministry in Philadelphia, and another is now pursu- 
ing his studies. His own early studies were in the public schools 
of New York, where he. proved himself a pupil of great promise. 
Having entered the Madison University, a Baptist institution- in the 
village of Hamilton, Madison county, New York, he was graduated 
in 1864, and in theology in 1866. He was licensed to the Baptist 
ministry in 1862, and in August, 1866, was ordained and installed 
as pastor of the Central Baptist church in the Eastern District of 
Brooklyn. He is now the pastor of the Fifth Baptist Church in the 
same section of that city. 

Mr. Hanna is of the medium height, equally proportioned, and 
has all the vigor and energy natural to a person of his years. He 
has a head of the average size, with regular, intelligent features. 
He is a modest-bearing young man, but has strong points of char- 
acter. He is devotedly pious, and religion with him is an inborn 
rule of his thoughts and life. In his disposition he is calm and 
thoughtful, and he is a lover of study and serious reflection. He is 
courteous and genial with all with whom he comes in contact, but 
there is always a degree of seriousness and a holy sadness about his 
demeanor and conversation. Religious topics, and the duties which 
belong strictly to his pastorship, exert the best influence upon him. 
Under these circumstances he shows animation, and has something- 
like enthusiasm in the discharge of his labors. Without being a 

255 



REV. THOMAS A. T. HANNA. 

fanatic, lie is certainly an enthusiast as a religionist, for it is in ttns 
character alone that you find him showing the strength of purpose 
and feeling which is in him. Passive, cold as a block of ice, indif- 
ferent to almost all the concerns of life, a nothing and a nobody, 
without action, resolution, or ambition: this is what the separation 
of himself from religious duties and a ministerial life would have 
made of him. Quick, warm, with tender emotions, zealous in the 
advocacy of principles and the battle of faith, a moral hero, and "a 
host in himself," full of energy, courage, and a desire for great 
achievements : this is what he is as an ordained minister of the 
church, with a consciousness of his responsibilities, and a delight in 
fulfilling them. 

His course in the University was brilliant, and a sure guarantee 
of the usefulness which he was to display in his profession. He 
found himself in his proper element, and studied, not mechanically, 
but with the inspiration of one called to extraordinary and sancti- 
fied duties. His habits and deportment presented no compromises 
with duty or with moral and religious principles, for he was not 
only a converted man, but he felt himself inspired for the labor of 
the ministry. Set apart for this work, disconnected and uninter- 
ested in worldly affairs, save in their relation to the advancement of 
the cause of religion, he became as perfectly lukewarm upon all 
other subjects as he was ardent and sincere in that of his church and 
faith. 

The sermons of Mr. Hanna show depth and power, and give 
high promise of his future as a powerful and eloquent expounder of 
the Scriptures. The writing is terse and to the point. He does 
not waite words ; he is not disconnected aud rambling, but he is 
graphic and clear, and close and keen in his argument. He writes 
as if he understood his subject ; he shows that he is not willing to 
go beyond any assertion wherein he is not capable of fully elucidat- 
ing it ; and he imparts to the whole the utmost fervor of feeling. 
His amiable, youthful face, his considerate, kiudly tone, and his well- 
weighed, serious words are each and all potent in his public minis- 
trations. He at least cannot be doubted as a true and zealous 
young Christian ; and those who are young, like himself, and those 
who have passed further along in life's journey, with perhaps less 
profit, are always sensitive listeners to his appeals. 

256 



REV. SAMUEL M. HASKDfS, D. D., 

RECTOR OTF 1 ST. ]MA.I13i:'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 
BROOKLYN, (DES. I>.) 




>EV. DR. SAMUEL M. HASKINS was bom at Water- 
ford, Oxford county, Maine, May 29th, 1813, and his 
early studies were in that State. He was graduated at 
Union College in 1836, and at the General Episcopal 
Theological Seminary, New York, in 1839. He was made a 
deacon of the Episcopal Church at the Church of the Ascension, 
New York, by Bishop Onderdonk, in June, 1836, and priest at the 
Chapel of St. Mark's, Williamsburgh, in July, 1840, by the same 
bishop. He was called to the rectorship of St. Mark's in October, 
1839, and has now been in the parish for the period of thirty-four 
years. This organization, which was nursed into strength and use- 
fulness by the patient and earnest efforts of Dr. Haskins, has enjoyed 
the advantage of his care and love throughout its whole interesting 
history. It is the parent of all the other Episcopal churches in that 
section of Brooklyn, which now number seven flourishing parishes. 
St. Mark's Church was organized by the Bev. Mr. Davis, in 
October, 1837, on the outskirts of the then village of Williamsburgh, 
as a missionary enterprise. Mr. Davis was the first rector, but left 
the parish in May or June, 1839. When Dr. Haskins was called, 
the services were held in a small whitewashed brick building in the 
midst of a cornfield. He preached his first sermon on the twenty- 
first Sunday after Trinity, 1839. The congregation then consisted 
of about fourteen families and eighteen communicants. There was 
no other parish between Astoria and Brooklyn, yet the population 
was small and sparse — fields and orchards covering a large portion 
of the now populous city. The congregation steadily increased, and 
it was determined to build a larger church edifice. Three lots were 
obtained on what is now the corner of Fourth and South-Fifth streets, 
and a stone building was erected. The whole cost of the property 
was between sixteen and seventeen thousand dollars — a large sum 

257 



REV. SAMUEL M . HA SKINS, D. D. 

for a feeble congregation in those days — and on its completion a debt 
remained of six thousand dollars. In May, 1841, the church was 
consecrated. The congregation steadily increased with the growth 
of the city. In 1846, a new congregation, under the name of Christ 
Church, was organized, and entirely made up of families from St 
Mark's. A series of missionary services, commenced by Dr. Haskins 
in the same year in the eastern portion of the town, resulted in the 
organization of St Paul's Church, which was received into the con- 
vention in 1848. These were followed by other parishes from time 
to time, until the large number of seven now attest to the zeal and 
liberalitv of the mother church. The original debt was paid off in 
1848. At the same date the church was enlarged by the addition of 
a proper chancel and choir, and an increase to the nave of about two 
hundred sittings. It was also greatly beautified by the addition of 
several memorial windows. In 1860 further important additions 
were made to the church, and other memorial windows have been 
added, until all of them are now of this character. During twenty- 
one years, up to 1860, baptism was administered to nine hundred 
and eighteen infants and adults ; there were four hundred and eight 
confirmations, four hundred and sixty-four new communicants, two 
hundred and ninety-one marriages, and four hundred and eighty-two 
burials. Up to 1869, fourteen hundred and two persons of all ages 
sought Heaven's blessing in repentance at this altar. Over eight 
hundred of the original parishioners are no more. Nearly six thou- 
sand dollars have been contributed in humble mites for the poor and 
sick, eight thousand four hundred dollars for missionary purposes, 
and over fifty-six thousand dollars in all for the cure of souls, exclu- 
sive of pew rents, etc. Six ministers now preaching from Christian 
pulpits were originally connected with the Sunday School. In 
twenty years the church was never closed but for two Sundays. 
During the same time Dr. Haskins was never absent from his post 
of duty more than five Sundays in succession, and preached and 
lectured about twenty-five hundred times. The holy communion 
was never administered by other hands than his own but four times 
in twenty-one years. 

There are now three hundred and sixty-eight communicants and 
three hundred and fifty children in the Sunday School. The thirtieth 
anniversary of Dr. Haskins' rectorship was celebrated, with appro- 
priate services, in the month of October, 1869. The church was beau 

tifully decorated with flowers, and a broad banner in front of the 

258 



EEV. SAMUEL M. HASKINS. D. D. 

org-in nad inscribed on it the words, " Peace be within thy walls." 
A monumental floral offering of exquisite beauty stood in front of 
the chancel, bearing upon its summit a golden sheaf, which was 
typical of the long services of the rector, during which he had gath- 
ered a rich religious harvest. From the chandelier depended china- 
asters, everlastings, and groups of pretty verbenas and other flowers. 
The windows were likewise ornamented. The Right Rev. A. 1ST. 
Littlejohn. Bishop of Long Island, and many other distinguished 
clergymen, were present, with a large congregation. The rector de- 
livered an impressive historical sermon, which has been published in 
pamphlet form. It may be mentioned that Mr. William Coard, the 
organist of this church, has held the position since 1848, and the 
sexton for even a more extended time. The church now stands in 
the older portion of the city, and is quite plain and unostentatious 
compared with church edifices of more modem erection in other 
neighborhoods. Still, with the improvements that have been made 
in the exterior and interior, it has a very neat and tasteful appear- 
ance, and looks as should the venerable cradle of so many rich and 
powerful parishes. 

Dr. Haskins received his degree of D. D. from Union College 
about twelve years since. His publications consist of various occa- 
sional sermons. 

He is of the average height and well-proportioned. He walks 
with an erect figure and an active step. His attire is strictly clerical. 
His head is large, with a broad face of marked intellectuality and 
amiability. The features are large bat regular. It is at all times a 
cheerful and engaging face to look upon. Though it shows decision 
and force of character, there is a kindness in the gaze of the eye and 
a good-natured smile that plays about the mouth, which prevent it 
from ever being other than expressive of gentle and noble traits of 
character. His manners are of the gentlemanly, tender, considerate, 
and kind, that always win the heart. No matter when or where you 
see him, he greets you with the warmth of a sincere friendship and 
love. With cheerfulness and smiles, with kind words and genial ac- 
tions, he has ever made himself an object of great popular favor 
among his own people, and in social and public life generally. He 
is well described in those words in which Cowper portrays the model 
preacher : 

"In doctrine uncorrupt; in language plain, 
And plain in manner; decent, solemn, chaste, 
259 



KEV. SAMUEL M . HASKIKS, D. D. 

Arid natural in gesture; much impress' d 
Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, 
And anxious mainly that the flock be feeds 
May feel it too; affectionate in look, 
And tender in address, as well becomes 
A messenger of grace to guilty men." 

Seeing "him in the pulpit, the living impersonation of this portrait 
is brought vividly before you. His clear, positive faith in the doc- 
trines he proc'aims, and his equally clear and positive language ; his 
unpretending, circumspect, and solemn manners ; his ease and grace 
of delivery and gesture ; his evident sense of the obligations of his 
position ; his tender appeals to the unconverted ; his affectionate look- 
ing from face to face of those who are his sheep, all appear in most 
striking reality. He is not looking for popular applause, but he is 
anxious to do his whole duty as a preacher of the glad tidings of sal- 
vation. He is not seeking to exalt himself and his talents, but he is 
pleading with his whole mind and heart to save those in guilt and 
periL He is eloquent ; his words flow with fluency and beauty ; he 
is strong in argument and inspired with faith, but none of this is in- 
tended to awaken an emotion personal to himself. His language, 
tone, and manners will not allow you to escape from a knowledge of 
this fact, and it gives great additional power and effectiveness to his 
preaching. In this day of worldly ambition and of selfishness, you 
can but be drawn nearer to the man who shows himself entirely free 
from them, and thoroughly devoted, with humility and seriousness 
of spirit, to the work of the Master. 

Dr. Haskins has labored from early manhood to the decline of 
life in one parish. In that time he has seen a great city grow up 
about him, with the manifold changes and trials it has brought to 
his parish He has seen the little seed of his nursing and watering 
grow into the tall tree of religious power, and he has seen its goodly 
boughs severed one after the other, until the ancient trunk is all 
that remains. Venerable with age, hoary, but not decayed, it still 
stands where it was first planted in the vineyard of the Lord, and its 
faithful husbandman will guard it untfl he, too, falls to his rest be- 
neath its holy shade. 

260 



RET. THOMAS S. HASTINGS, D. D., 

PASTOR OP THE TVEST PRE8BYTEBIAN 
CHURCH, TVEW YORK!. 




'EV. DE. THOMAS S. HASTINGS, pastor of the West 
Presbyterian Church, in West Forty-second street, is one 
of the most popular and successful ministers in the city 
of New York. He is a native of the State of New York, 
^P and was born August 28th, 1827, making him forty-six years 
<"3 of age. In 1832, his father, Thomas Hastings, well known as 
a distinguished professor of music, removed to New York city, 
where the son pursued his early studies. He was graduated at 
Hamilton College in 1848, and at the Union Theological Seminary, 
New York, in 1851. He was licensed and ordained by the Fourth 
Presbytery of New York. In July, 1852, he became pastor of the 
Presbyterian Church at Mendham, New Jersey, where he remained 
four years. He was called in June, 1856, to his present pastorate. 
He began his labors on the first of the following month. 

The West Presbyterian Church was organized by the Presbytery 
of New York, November 1st, 1829, under the name of the North Pres- 
byterian Church. The name was changed June 25th, 1831, to the 
"West Presbyterian Church of the City of New York." In Janu- 
ary, 1832, the Rev. David E. Downer became the first pastor, when 
the church consisted of eighteen members. The first edifice was 
erected in Carmine street, head of Varick, in the autumn of 1831-32. 
It was completed in the spring of 1832, and dedicated May 27th, of 
that year. The Eev. Edwin Hoyt succeeded Mr. Downer, and 
officiated about four years. On the 2d of July, 1816, the Eev. 
Thomas H. Skinner, Jr., was called from Paterson, and he was fol- 
lowed, ten years later, by the present pastor, whose installation took 
place October 20th, 1856. 

At a meeting of the congregation, September 21st, 1860, the 
trustees were authorized to engage for one year the chapel of Rutgers 
Institute, on Fifth Avenue, between Forty-first and Forty-second 

261 






REV. THOMAS S. HASTINGS, D. D. 

streets, and they were also authorized to employ an assistant for the 
pastor, that public worship might be maintained both in the chapel 
and in the church in Carmine street. Accordingly, the Eev. Eldridge 
Mix was employed to aid the pastor, and regular Sabbath services 
were commenced in Eutgers Institute chapel, October 7th, 1860. 
In the autumn of the following year arrangements were made for 
finally closing the down town church, which finally took place, 
October 27th, 18(31. The sacrament of the Lord's Supper was ad- 
ministered as the concluding service in the church edifice, which was 
hallowed by the memories of nearly thirty years. The increase of 
the congregation up town rendered a removal necessary to Crystal 
Hall, which was occupied until a new chapel was completed on a 
portion of the site now occupied by the congregation in Forty-second 
street. This building was dedicated December 14th, 1862. It was 
anticipated that the chapel would afford sufficient accommodations 
for some years to come ; but the rapid growth of the congregation 
soon made it necessary to provide for the erection of the present mag- 
nificent church, the ground for which was broken in August, 1863. 

This edifice is one of peculiar architectural design, and attracts 
great attention from visitors to New York. It occupies ground 102 
feet by 78 feet, and abuts immediately upon the chapel previously 
erected. The auditorium is a perfect square of 74 feet by 74 feet, 
and the pulpit platform gives an additional 12 feet of depth. 
The organ and gallery for the choir form the principal decorative 
1 features of the north end of the church. The gas lights are princi- 
pally out of sight, being concentrated under a series of powerful 
reflectors above the great skylight, and also being disposed around 
the back of the central arch over the pulpit. The leading idea in 
the style of architecture is the Italian Gothic. The columns sup- 
porting the entrance porch are of polished Peterhead granite, the 
basis and capitals of Italian marble. In this portion there are some 
rare specimens of the sculptor's art, one of which is the figure of an 
angel of benediction in the tympanum of the arch. The painting 
of the interior is also highly artistic and beautiful. The church was 
dedicated April 23d, 1865, and cost, with the ground, one hundred 
and twenty thousand dollars. 

In this unique and beautiful church, situated in one of the best 
neighborhoods of the city, Dr. Hastings now addresses from Sabbath 
to Sabbath his large congregation. There are four hundred and 

thirty-seven members, and about two hundred and fifty children in 

262 



REV. THOMAS S. HASTINGS, D. D. 

the Sunday school at the church, and six hundred in two Mission 
Sunday schools. 

In 1872 the congregation completed a structure known as First 
Mission Chapel on Forty-sixth street, near Tenth avenue, at a cost 
of fifteen thousand dollars. The edifice is of brick and covers two 
lots, fifty by one hundred feet. The front is trimmed with blue- 
stone, and at each end is a small tower with a spire. 

The pews accommodate five hundred persons, and there are en- 
couraging evidences that the mission will produce excellent fruits. 
A clergyman is to be permanently attached to the chapel, and 
comfortable apartments have been arranged over the library for 
his accommodation. The Sunday school is held on the main 
floor ; the infant class has a neat room immediately above the read- 
ing room, and it looks directly into the body of the chapel. Swing- 
ing doors are so arranged that the gallery can be closed, and all 
sound kept away from the auditorium if necessary. 

There is a ladies' industrial school attached to the mission, which 
meets every Wednesday and Saturday. The object is to instruct 
girls in needle work. The end and scope of the society is to aid as 
far as possible the good and deserving, and with this view the ladies 
cut out clothing and prepare it for distribution. In certain cases 
garments are presented to attendants at the school. Every effort is 
made to inspire habits of industry and thrift among the young peo- 
ple. 

Dr. Hastings has a tall, thin figure. His head is of the 
average size, with regular and delicate features. His complexion 
is pale, and the expression cf his face is one which bespeaks great 
amiability of character. He has much warmth and polish of man- 
ners, and his address is affable and cheerful. All admire and respect 
him, and those who know him in intimate personal relations as 
pastor. and friend cherish him as one of the truest of men. 

Dr. Hastings is a scholarly and eloquent preacher. He is clear, 
vigorous and stable in his style of thought, and shows thorough in- 
formation in the whole range of theological and literary culture. 
More than this he is a deeply pious man, and his sermons are per- 
vaded by an impressive religious tone. He received his degree of 
D. D. from the New York University in 1866. He holds a position 
among the ablest men of his denomination, and his spiritual and 
practical success in the ministry, especially in his present pastorate, 

has not been exceeded by any pastor of his times. 

263 



REV. ISAAC T. HECKER, 

PASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF ST. PAXIL THE 

APOSTLE, (CATHOIiTCI NEW YORK. 




)EV. ISAAC T. HECKEE was born in New York, in 
December, 1819. He received Lis education in this city, 
and entered into business with his brothers in the large 
milling and baking establishment of Hecker Brothers. 
Two of these brothers still carry on this business with great suc- 
cess ; and one of them, John Hecker, is noted as a religious man, 
philanthropist, and a writer on education and phrenology, and for 
maintaining a church of the Episcopal faith at his own expense. 

Father Hecker passed the summer of 1843, with the Association 
for Agriculture and Education, at Brook Farm, West Koxbury, Mass., 
and subsequently spent some time at a similar institution in Worces- 
ter Co., Mass. In 18-15, he returned to New York, and become con- 
verted to, and received into, the Boman Catholic Church. He deter- 
mined on entering the congregation of the Most Holy Bedeemer, and 
after making his novitiate at St Trond, in Belgium, was admitted 
to the order in 1847. On the completion of his ecclesiastical studies, 
be was sent by his superiors to England, where he was ordained priest 
by the late Cardinal Wiseman, in 1849. He passed two years in 
England, engaged in missionary work. In 1851, he returned to the 
United States, with several members of his order. During the next 
seven years he was constantly employed in missionary labor in dif- 
ferent parts of the United States. His talents and enthusiasm in his 
work were of that degree which produced great results for his churcb, 
and he quickly rose to a high reputation in its priesthood. 

He soon prepared for even a more extended field of organized 
missionary effort. In 1857, having visited Borne, Father Hecker 
with some of his colleagues were released by the Fope from their 
connection with the Bedemtionists, and in 1858 he founded, with his 
companions, a new missionary society under the name of the congre- 
gation of St. Paul the Apostle, whose church and monastery are on 

264 



REV. ISAAC T. HECKER. 

the corner of Ninth avenue and Fifty-ninth street. The parish is 
large and growing. There are different religions and charitable 
societies, a Sunday school of more than twelve hundred pupils, and 
two libraries, of over two thousand volumes. 

Father Hecker published in 1855, " Questions of the Soul," and 
in 1857, " Aspirations of Nature." While in Eome, he published 
two papers on Catholicity in the United States, which were translated 
into several languages, and extensively read in Europe and America. 
He originated the Catholic World, of New York, a monthly magazine 
devoted to the interest of the Catholic Church. He is also well known 
as an able and eloquent lecturer on religious and secular subjects. In 
his writings be is learned, logical, and brilliant. 

The personal appearance of Father Hecker is that of a man capa- 
ble of great and persevering effort of both the mental and bodily pow- 
ers. Such have been his characteristics throughout, and, though at 
this writing he has been obliged to seek succor for failing health, in 
European travel, still it is not thought that his rare powers for severe 
duty are seriously impaired. He has a round and compact figure. 
His head is large, with well cut features. The brow is broad and 
finely rounded, showing at once excellent form and striking intel- 
lectuality. The whole expression of the face is particularly cheerful 
and pleasing. It betokens an eager, penetrating mind, and the noble, 
kindly heart. 

Father Hecker enjoys an extensive popularity as an effective, 
popular speaker. Few men can exercise more control over an aud- 
ience. He speaks with ease of utterance, in choice and vigorous 
language, and with modulations of voice and appropriateness of ges- 
tures, which do much to give force and impressiveness to his oratory. 

He is a benevolent and truly pious man. Religion is to him the 
aspiration and life of the soul. Devoted and earnest in preaching his 
particular faith, he exhibits in every step that he takes in the path 
of daily duty, and in every word that falls from his lips, that he pro- 
claims only that which is the rock of his own earthy comfort and 
heavenly hope. 



REY. GEORGE H. HEPWORTH, 

PASTOR OF THi: CHURCH OF THE DISCIPLES, 
TSTEW YORK. 




EV. GEORGE H. HEPWORTH was born in the city of 
Boston, Febuary 4th, 1833. He is of French descent, on 
bis mother's side, and some of his ancestors met the fate 
of the popular leaders in the French Revolution. Two 
them were guillotined in Paris during Robespierre's "Reign 
Terror." " If it is true," says another, " that one's life-work is 
ever decided before we are born, the law applies to the case of Mr. 
Hepworth. It was the earnest wish of the mother than one of her 
children should be a preacher. She was in many respects a remark- 
able women, and would often ride a dozen miles of a cold wintei's 
night to hear some distinguished and eloquent minister. She gave 
the preacher's temperament to her son. In his earliest influences al- 
almost before he could speak plainly, he would mount his little chair 
for a pulpit and deliver a boyish sermon. He never experienced 
that doubt as to what his profession should be which characterizes so 
many. From childhood he entertained the single purpose of becom- 
ing a preacher." 

After concluding studies at the Boston Latin School, he was 
graduated at the Harvard Divinity School in 1853. He was first 
settled over the Unitarian Church in Nantucket, Massachusetts, for 
about two years, and then returned to Cambridge, where he studied 
for several months as a resident graduate. In December, 1857, he was 
called to the temporary care of the Church of the Unity, then a newly 
organized Unitarian congregation of Boston. At that time he was 
not quite twenty-five years of age. He was engaged to supply the 
jralpit for six months, from December 1st, 1857, arid on the 14th of 
March following received a unanimous call to the pastorate, which he 
accepted. His pastorship was of the most efficient and successful 
character, and his congregation became one of the most prominent 
and wealthy of Boston. 266 



REV. GEORGE H. HEPWORTH. 

At the outbreak of the war Mr. Hepworth exerted himself in the 
pulpit and lyceum, and through the press, in behalf of the govern- 
ment In 1862 he joined General Banks' command in Louisiana, as 
an army chaplain, and remained in the South for a long period. He 
was soon appointed to a place on the General's staff, with the super- 
vision of the free labor system of Louisiana. In this capacity he 
performed very valuable services to the country. Upon his return, 
he embodied his experience in a book entitled '' The Whip, Hoe, and 
Sword.'' He also delivered a number of lectures throughout the 
country, particularly during the Presidential election of 1864. 
While in Boston he originated the system of Sabbath evening dis- 
courses in one of the principal theatres, which has since spread to 
other cities of the Union. He is also entitled to the credit of having 
by his own personal exertions established the Boston School for the 
Ministry, which consists of four leased brick houses on East Dedham 
street, where in the second year nearly forty students entered upon 
the course of study. 

On Sunday, May 16th, 1869, Mr. Hepworth tendered his resigna- 
tion of his Boston pastorship, having accepted a call to the Church 
of the Messiah, New York city, formerly under the care of the Rev. 
Dr. Samuel Osgood. His first sermon was preached before a large 
congregation on the morning of Sunday, June 13th, 1869. His salary 
was twelve thousand dollars. 

He preached with his usual success, until the winter of 1872. 
Unexpectedly to the congregation, one Sunday he announced that 
he intended, after serious and mature deliberation, to secede from all 
connection with the Unitarian church, having changed his religious 
views. The matter produced great excitement in the whole Unitarian 
organization of the country, and indeed, in all sects. 

He was soon after received into the fellowship of the Congrega- 
tional church, and interesting services held at Rev. Henry Ward 
Beecher's church in Brooklyn. Regular Sunday services were com- 
menced by Mr. Hepworth in Steinway Hall, which were largely 
attended. A new congregation was organized, under the name of 
the Church of the Disciples, and a large amount of money was sub- 
scribed to build a church edifice. This structure was erected chiefly 
of iron, on the corner of Madison avenue and Thirty -fifth street, and 
dedicated in the spring of 1873. 

An Ecclesiastical Council convened at the request of the Church 

of the Disciples, at the Brick Church, New York, on the afternoon of 

267 



REV. GEORGE H. HEPWORTH. 

December 5th, 1872, in the words of the invitation " to consider our 
covenant articles of faith and church rales, and if deemed advisable 
to recognize us as a church of Christ ; also to examine the pastor of 
the church and to assist in his installation if found worthy of your 
fellowship in the Gospel." Twenty-seven pastors and lay delegates, 
of different churches and all the evangelical denominations, composed 
the council. Mr. Hepworth appeared before them and was examined 
at great length and with great severity. His orthodoxy being by 
the result made apparent, the unanimous vote was that he be in- 
stalled, as he had requested, and heartily welcomed into the fellow- 
ship of the churches as a Christian man and a minister taught by the 
Lord Jesus Christ and led by His spirit. 

On the evening of the same day Mr. Hepworth was duly installed 
before a large congregation. The services were conducted by various 
distinguished clergymen, the Eev. Dr. R S. Storrs, of Brooklyn, 
preaching a most eloquent sermon. 

Mr. Hepworth is of the medium height, and equally proportioned. 
His figure is erect and graceful, and he shows much activity in all 
his movements. His head is large, having a somewhat square face, 
with handsome, intellectual features. His expression is one of great 
amiability, and wins you in a moment. There is much calmness and 
thoughtful ness about his face, but the peculiarity which is most no- 
ticeable is its constant glow of bright intelligence, which ever and 
anon gathers into a soft, unconscious smile. In conversation and in 
public speaking, you see these rays of sunny light stealing over his 
countenance, giving it an unusual fascination. His manners are 
altogether plain and unassuming. He is warm and genial with all 
persons, and withal so cheerful and entertaining that there are few 
who can claim more general popularity with all ages and conditions. 

Mr. Hepworth is one of the most eloquent and effective preachers 
of the clay. He is not of the noisy, sensational order, but, on the 
contrarv, is the very reverse of it. He often preaches without writ- 
ing out' his sermons. He gives them, however, deep and searching 
thought, and what he says in the pulpit has all the vigor of expres- 
sion which' could be obtained by writing it, and at the same time the 
freshness and fervor of an extemporaneous discourse. He puts him- 
self on the closest footing with his hearers. A great deal is said in 
almost a conversational manner. There is no restraint and no form- 
ality. He stands with one arm thrown over a corner of the book- 
board or he leans entirely over it himself, and then, in a friendly, 
' 253 



REV. GEORGE H. HEPWORTH 

social, matter-of-fact style, lie talks more than he can be said to preach. 
Then, from time to time, he gives way to a degree of animation which 
leads to a few expressive gestures, but nothing more. His thoughts 
are most simple in their expression, but they are of the highest effec- 
tiveness. His language is clear, chaste, and scholarly, and his argu- 
ments are logical, and additionally sustained by apt and forcible 
similes and other illustrations. His opinions are always manly, just, 
and Christian, and his kindly, beaming face is full} r expressive of the 
sincerity and truth which go with them and are inseparable from his 
character. You are led along with him by influences which come 
upon you as the silent vapors steal over the earth. Chains, which 
are no more to be broken than iron, clasp about you, but they have 
fallen upon you as softly as if they were gossamer thread & It is the 
persuasion of reason and truth which arrests the mind, and it is the 
loving tenderness of humanity and brotherhood which melts, subdues, 
and wins your heart. It is not the fascination of eloquence, nor is it 
the power of learning, but it is that magnetic charm which is to be 
found in words of moral and religious truths when fitly spoken. 
Some speak with a force and thunder which startle, and some with a 
beauty and eloquence which dazzle. Mr. Hepworth does neither of 
these. He is simple in matter and manner ; he is moderate and 
gentle always. But it is this simplicity and moderation which are 
so attractive. You are not carried away by brilliant oratory, but 
you feel refreshed in soul. You say here is a good man to whom it 
is pleasant to listen, and whom it will be wisdom to make an exam- 
ple. You are withdrawn from the baser part of nature which may 
be in you, and rise to a nearer alliance with principle and love to 
mankind. 

Mr. Hepworth has abilities of various kinds which eminently fit 
him for a success in the ministry equal to any minister of his time. 
He is a thinker and worker. His heart is in his labors, and his 
young energies are all enlisted for a life-time of faithful, unselfish 
service in the cause of truth and religion. Simple and unostentatious, 
and yet effective in the pulpit, and zealous and loving in his duties 
out of it, he must go forward to triumphs still greater than those 
which have already made his career so marked by practical useful- 
ness. 






REV. J. STANFORD HOLME, D. D, 

PASTOR OF THE TKINITY BAPTIST CHURCH, 

IVIEW YORK. 




•EV. DR. J. STANFORD HOLME was bom in a section 
formerly known as Holmesburg, and now a part of the 
city of Philadelphia, March 4th, 1822. His ancestors 
came to America from England in 1683, and purchased 
\Qgl their lands of William Penn. John Holme, a prominent mem- 
'—S 1 "b er of the family, was an early magistrate under Penn, but re- 
tired from his position by reason of what he deemed to be intolerance 
on the part of his Quaker associates. Another ancestor was Abel 
Morgan, who was one of the earliest writers in defense of Baptist 
doctrines in the colonies, as appears by a volume which was pub- 
lished by Benjamin Franklin in 1747, at his printing-office in Market 
street. It thus appears that the earliest efforts in planting the Bap- 
tist faith in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey are due in a great 
measure to the ancestors of the subject of our notice. 

His academic studies were at New Hampton, New Hampshire, 
and he then studied law in Philadelphia, but did not seek admission 
to the bar, as he had determined to prepare for the ministry. He 
was graduated at Madison University in 1850, and first settled over 
the Baptist church at Waterloo, New York. After nearly four years 
of service he accepted a call to the Pierrepont street Baptist church, 
Brooklyn, where he remained ten years. He now devoted two years 
to literary pursuits, and temporarily supplied different pulpits. Dur- 
ing a year and a half of this time he officiated at the Tabernacle Bap- 
tist church, New York. 

It had been the desire of his life to found a new chui'ch, and the 
time and opportunity now seemed to have arrived. The necessity 
for a new Baptist church was felt in one of the up-town sections of 
the city, and in the spring of 1866, Dr. Holme commenced preaching 
in a hall on the corner of Third avenue and Fifty-second street. A 

mission of the Madison avenue Baptist church had been for some 

270 



REV. J. STANFORD HOLME, D. D. 

time conducted at the same place under the care of Rev. Samuel 
Covell. Dr. Holme, however, took charge of the enterprise, with a 
view to the formation of an independent Baptist church. A large 
congregation was collected under his ministry during the year, and 
it was deemed expedient to organize a church without further delay. 
A meeting was called for this purpose June 4th, 1867, at which the 
church was duly organized with seventy-five members, under the 
name of the Trinity Baptist Church of the city of New York, and 
Dr. Holme was called as the first pastor. A chapel was fitted up in 
the building where services were held for some time. A few years 
since the fine structure of the Eleventh Presbyterian Church in Fifty- 
fifth street was purchased by the Trinity Congregation, and soon 
after occupied by them. 

Dr. Holme is above the average height, and of full round figure, 
while of active step. His head is large and round, with marked 
evidences of intellect and character. His features are regular, though 
outlined with the same boldness of the massive head. You are par- 
ticularly struck with his amiable, genial-looking face. It has great 
mobility, and is fully expressive of his feelings at all times. When 
in simple repose it is aglow with light from his luminous, intellectual 
eyes, and the natural cheerfulness which pervades it ; but in anima- 
tion it gives instant and vivid reflections of all his emotions and 
thoughts. Had he been a professional actor, he would have been 
peerless in his parts ; and as a teacher and orator he has that power 
of effectiveness in the facial expression which is electrical, and simul- 
taneous with feeling, conviction, and utterance. His brow is like a 
towering dome to the rest of the fine physical structure, and shows 
the seat of commanding mental powers. Perhaps the greatest charm, 
however, about Dr. Holme consists in his affable and fascinating 
manners. He is never without a dignity becoming a minister of the 
gospel, and yet his whole conduct is characterized by a frank, open 
bearing, and so much good-nature and courtesy, that all persons 
find themselves on the most friendly and genial terms with him. 

With these elements of character he is pre-eminently a popular 
man. Wherever he goes he carries good feeling ; whoever he talks to 
feels the warmer and kindlier in his heart for it. It is not, however, 
the element of "all things to all men;" it is not the spirit of 
demagogism, striving for popularity by sacrifices of principle, but it 
is in the fullest sense the heart of a good and kindly man diffusing 
its influence into every person and into every scene. 



REV. J. STANFORD HOLME, D. D. 

People say they are happy in his church. We divine this to be 
the case especially from the fact that their pastor is a man alive with 
the genuine impulses of love and fellowship, and not a dead fossil of 
dignity. He believes that like the tendrils of the water plant that 
shoot forth in every direction for the fluid which gives it life, so the 
human heart stretches forth its tendrils of feeling, seeking the nour- 
ishment of congenial souls and sentiments. Some men are so iron- 
clad with professional and personal dignity that they are impenetra- 
ble to these self-evident pleadings which are uttered in all organiza- 
tions and communities. Other men are like the springs which bub- 
ble up to the thirsting plants, and give to those with whom they 
come in contact the refreshment of love, friendship, and cheerfulness. 
It is due to the exercise of these characteristics that the churches 
over which Dr. Holme has been placed have had such religious 
vitality and personal concord. 

Dr. Holme is one of the most popular preachers in the Baptist 
denomination. His sermons are, to a certain extent, argumentative; 
but his main attack is upon the feelings of his audience. He is a 
clear, comprehensive writer, taking hold of any and every subject 
with sufficient ability to do it full justice, and not only advance every 
plea in its favor, but from his own standpoint demolish every argu- 
ment of opposition. There is scope and vigor in his whole range of 
thought ; and yet in its application it is softened by tender personal 
sympathies, and commended by eager zeal in the cause of the im- 
periled soul. He has a fine round voice perfectly under his control, 
and his manner of delivery is composed and effective. He enjoys 
natural powers as a speaker, and has not required much training, 
and consequently there is no restraint upon him. His flow of lan- 
guage is ready and ample, and not less terse than tasteful in its se- 
lection. He feels every word that he utters ; and he shows it Not, 
however, in boisterous thunderings, and in the wild utterances of 
sensational eloquence, but in the countenance — beaming with sincerity 
— and in the unmistakable tones of truth and faith. His purpose is 
not to exhibit the graces of oratory, though he has all of these, but it is 
to give potency to religious truth by the aid of the human mind and 
lips. This is the conviction which steals upon the hearer. His 
arguments, his soft worda of persuasion, and his more eloquent and 
impassioned passages are all methods of showing the way to grace, 
and in no particular intended for the vain display of personal 
powers. 272 



REV. GEORGE H. HOUGHTON, D. D., 

RECTOlt OF THE CHURCH OF THE TRANSFIG- 
URATION, (EPISCOPAL,) NEW YORK. 




»EV. DR GEOKGE H. HOUGHTON was born at Deer- 
field, Mass., in February, 1820. He was graduated at the 
New York University in 1842. and pursued bis theologi. 
cal course privately. He took orders in the autumn of 
1845, and after remaining one year as assistant to Dr. Muhlen- 
berg, at the Church of the Holy Communion, in October, 1848, 
commenced officiating at a private house for a small number of per- 
sons who, in the following year, were organized as the Church of the 
Transfiguration. Soon after a location on Twenty-ninth street, near 
Fifth avenue, was chosen, and, through the disinterested benevolence 
of one of the members of the parish, a church edifice was commenced, 
which was occupied on Sunday, March 10th, 1850. Additions have 
been made to the building from time to time, and now has the form 
of an L, occupying one side and the rear of the property, with the 
rectory on the other side. The church is a long, low building ; the 
several entrances have turrets over them ; in front is a small park 
with trees and flowers, and the whole has a very picturesque appear- 
ance. Until May, 1854, the entire pew rents were used for reducing 
the debt incurred in purchasing the ground and building, two hun- 
dred dollars being the largest single offering made at one time by 
any member of the parish for these purposes. The pews — which are 
rented, not sold — are rated much below the ordinary average, while 
there are one hundred and fifty free sittings. These latter are in the 
chapel part of the edifice, which is so arranged that, by turning the 
seats, it becomes a portion of the body of the church. During ten 
years Dr. Houghton gave to the church, of his earnings in another 
sphere of duty, more than three thousand dollars, and during four 
years received irregular salary. The congregation is now one of the 
largest and wealthiest in New York. Dr. Houghton held the posi- 
tion of instructor of Hebrew in the General Theological Seminary, in 

273 



REV. GEORGE H. HOUGHTON, D. D. 

connection with his rectorship, and finally resigned after a service of 
twelve years. He received the degree of D. D. from Columbia Col- 
lege, in 1859. His publications consist of occasional sermons. 

Dr. Houghton and his church have received great prominence 
from the fact of his having there performed the burial service over 
the remains of a worthy deceased actor, George Holland, this rite 
having been refused by the Eev. Mr. Sabine. Many expressions 
of the public concurrence in the action of Dr. Houghton took place, 
and the " little church around the corner," the language in which it 
was referred to by Mr. Sabine, has become embalmed in the lasting 
remembrance of all truly Christian people. 

Dr. Houghton is slightly under the medium height, sparely made, 
and in every respect of a delicate organization. He has a well-de- 
veloped head, and a face of marked intelligence, combined with an 
impressive simplicity. His complexion is very pale, and is the more 
observable from the contrast with his black hair and whiskers. He 
also wears a moustache, which is altogether unusual among ministers. 
The intellectuality "of his fine marble-like brow, the calmness, serenity, 
and sweetness of 'expression, and his gentle, kindly voice and man- 
ners, each and all 'throw about him the influence of a being extraor- 
dinarily endowed with manly and Christian virtues. And, in truth, 
he stands a noble example to his fellow-men. His whole life has 
been remarkable for its uprightness and piety. In strictness to con- 
scientious duty and religious responsibility it has been undeviating 
from youth up. He is a moral hero in every sense. Personal sacri- 
fice, and even suffering, have never been considered for a moment. 
The demands of duty have ever been regarded in their largest scope, 
and to discharge them fully has been an aim to which all else was 
subordinate. The exact line of duty, and the way lighted at every 
step by an approving conscience, have been the only paths in which 
his feet have gone. Honorable, just, conscientious, and heroic in 
holding to them all, he has truly illustrated the Christian life. We 
mean the Christian life in distinction from the morally upright life, 
and the life which only seeks perfection in the greater things, forget- 
ful of the smaller, which, like the water dropping on the granite, 
slowly but surely wear away conscience. Nobly perfect in the great 
and small ; sublimely true to faith and all professions, Dr. Houghton 
belongs to that measure of man coming nearest to God. When the 
little children look in his face, so beamiug with gentleness and good- 
ness, thev listen and believe. When the man, toughened with the 

J 274 



EEV. GEORGE H. HOUGHTON, D. D. 

world's Lard blows, and saddened by its wrongs, notes him day by 
day, and year after year, the same in purity of character and holiness 
of life, he begins to feel the awakening of the sacred inspiration 
which lifts the lost to Heaven. We are not overstating the influence 
of Dr. Houghton. His ministrations in his present parish were com- 
menced with only six persons as attendants upon them, and now he 
has reared a fine church, and drawn about him a numerous and de- 
voted congregation. He has done it by great labor, but more by the 
fascination of his character and the beauty of his life. Those out of 
his own denomination have aided him because they saw that he was 
a Christian hero, and those of his immediate flock have spiritedly 
upheld him because amidst earth's temptations he was upholding 
them. As a man he is everywhere cherished ; as a citizen he is re- 
spected by all with whom he comes in contact ; and as the pastor he 
is beloved with an affection which withstands all save death. 

Dr. Houghton attempts nothing especially brilliant in his ser- 
mons. They are all well written, but be seems to consider it out of 
place to introduce anything beyond simple, devout, and instructive 
language. Hence, while each is plain, practical, sincere, and learned 
in divine truths, there is a total absence of florid, sensational, and 
even eloquent passages. As he declared he would, he preaches the 
doctrines of his church, and nothing else. He is a very correct and 
impressive reader, and his rendering of the service is very fine. His 
voice is full and mellow, filling the whole building. 

Dr. Houghton is an able scholar. His attainments in the Hebrew 
are such that he has established a wide reputation as a teacher of it. 
The study of this language with him has been most enthusiastically 
pursued, as it has appealed so much to his religious emotions. 
"While he has a great love for refined literature, and a passion for art, 
still he allows himself but little respite from severe application to 
theological investigations. Always looking beyond for something 
better and higher, in both temporal and spiritual matters, he never 
deems his work accomplished, and unweariedly presses onward in 
the life-long race. 

275 



REV. ROBERT S. HOWLAND, D. D., 

SENIOR RECTOR OE THE CHURCH OF THE 
HEAVENEY REST [EPISCOPAL), NEW YORK!. 




'EV. DR ROBERT S. HOWLAND was born in the city 
of New York, November 9th, 1820. He spent some time 
at a French school, and at length entered St. Paul's Col- 
lege, Long Island, where he was graduated about 1840. He 
was next engaged with Bishop Kerfoot, now bishop of Western 
"^ Pennsylvania, in organizing St. James' College, in Maryland, in 
which State he remained a period of eight months. He then went 
abroad, traveling in Europe and in the Holy Land, and returned 
after an absence of eighteen months. He had before taken a partial 
theological course at the General Episcopal Seminar v. New York. 
He now returned to that institution and completed his studies, and was 
graduated in 18-15. During the same year he was made a deacon of 
the Episcopal Church, in New Haven, by Bishop Brownell, and priest 
in the following year, at St. Luke's Church, New York, by Bishop 
Ives, then of North Carolina, and later a priest of the Catholic church. 
For some time he was the assistant of Rev. Dr. Forbes, at St. Luke's 
church, and in 1847 was called to the rectorship of the Holy Apostles. 
He received his degree of D. D. from Columbia College, in 1863. He 
has recently made another extended tour in Europe. 

The Church of the Holy Apostles was the development of a 
Sunday school, which was held in an upper room in Twenty-seventh 
street. Religious services were at length commenced, and when Dr. 
Howlaud took charge there were twenty communicants. A donation 
of five lots, on the corner of Ninth avenue and Twenty -eighth street, 
was made to the church by Robert Ray, Esq., and here a church 
edifice was erected, which was consecrated in February, 1847. 

The growth of the congregation under the charge of Dr. Howland 
was verv remarkable. The eminent abilitv of the rector and the 
harmony always existing in the parish were attractions which pro- 
duced their legitimate fruits. In 1867 the congregation had four 

S76 



REV. ROBERT S. HOWLAND, D. D. 

hundred communicants, four hundred families, and four hundred and 
fifty children in the Sunday school. 

On the 18th of May, 1868, a parish under the name of the Church 
of the Heavenly Rest was organized, of which Dr. Howland is now 
the senior rector. The church edifice is located on one of the most 
magnificent portions of Fifth avenue. Dr. Howland, at the time of 
the erection of the church, carried out a plan of building several 
residences adjoining, making all the structures harmonious in design, 
and very imposing and elegant in appearance. 

The church, has an entrance on Fifth avenue, and will seat about 
one thousand people. Its design throughout is elaborate and costly. 
The pews and others fittings are of solid wood, and the carvings of 
the chancel are especially admired. All the pillars are of polished 
variegated marble. It was opened for public service in February, 
1869. The congregation is now large and influential. Here, as 
elsewhere, Dr. Howland is doing an earnest work for the upholding 
of his faith, and the regeneration of his fellow-men. His able asso- 
ciate is the Rev. Dr. Thomas K. Conrad. 

Dr. Howland is of the medium height, well proportioned, and of 
an easy, graceful carriage. He has a round head, not large, but of 
excellent proportions, regular features, and soft, bright eyes. His 
manners are dignified, but characterized by so much courtesy that 
intercourse with him is always agreeable. He is what may be called 
a self-possessed man — not one to bluster and make a noise about any- 
thing he does, or one devoid of modesty and a nice sense of pro- 
priety. Neither is he a man of assumption, nor of any personal 
conceit. And still he is a person of invariable self-possession. You 
are struck with it as a leading characteristic in him. But it is the 
self-possession of a man of intelligence and ability, who has all his 
powers under the most perfect control, and knows, exactly how and 
when to utter every word and perform every act. He is never excited, 
and he is never in doubt. He is always composed, and acts under- 
standing^ and properly on all occasions. His self-reliance and self- 
possession appear at a glance ; but at the same time it is to be seen 
that these are qualities natural to the man, and not assumed either to 
attract attention or to gain undue prominence for the individual. He 
is a kind-hearted man, full of manly and noble sympathies, and alive 
with energy in his Christian labors. He makes no distinction in hia 
intercourse with men, except that of the moral character. The humble 

and the sorrowing are regarded with most touching kindness ; and it 

277 






REV. ROBERT S. HOWLAND, D. T). 

has been bis great effort to make sucb persons in bis parisbes tbe object 
of constant Christian care. He is also a person exerting tbe happiest 
influence with children. His manners with them are winning in the 
extreme, and he is alike successful in imparting to them instruction 
and in preserving their lasting love. 

He preaches with a great deal of power. He is not lacking in 
those acquirements of scholarship which give value and interest to 
literary productions ; but the striking features in his sermons are their 
depth and force of religious appeal, and evidence of the earnest con- 
victions of tbe writer. As he writes, his language naturally takes 
those forms of expression which are the most euphonious to the ear 
and positive in their effect upon the mind. This is fully apparent, 
and tbe listener cannot fail to receive great delight from his sermons 
as learned and literary efforts. But the seeker after the bread of 
Heaven will find something of far more value. A holy inspiration, 
a firm reliance on the promises of faith, and a prayerful interest in 
all inquiring souls, are features which are equally apparent, and 
which give the greatest impressiveness to all these discourses. None 
can hear him without profit. There is that in his matter and manner 
which makes an irresistible appeal to the mind and heart. His voice 
is gentle, and his whole delivery is characterized by that dignity and 
propriety, and at tbe same time self-possession, which is peculiar to 
him on other occasions. 

Dr. Howland ranks with the most eminent of the Episcopal 

clergy. His abilities are of the first class, and he has built up 

powerful parisbes. His reputation rests on nothing ephemeral, but 

on qualifications and works of the most substantial character. He is 

popular among his brethren as a talented, good, and energetic man 

of Grod; and with his people he is always held in the most sincere 

regard. 

278 



MY. WAYLAKD HOTT, 

PASTOR OF THE TABERNACLE BAPTIST 
CHURCH, ZVEW YORK. 




>EV. WAYLAND HOYT was born in the city of Cleve- 

land, Ohio, February 18th, 1838. His early studies were 

pursued in the vicinity of his native city. He was 

graduated at Brown University in 1860, and at the 

Eoch ester Theological Seminary in 1863. He was ordained 

and settled for a year over the Baptist church at Pittsfield, 

Massachusetts, and then passed three years with the Ninth street 

Baptist church, Cincinnati. In November, 1867, he was installed as 

the pastor of the Strong Place Baptist church, Brooklyn, where he 

remained until the spring of 1873. He accomplished a most efficient 

work, and the congregation parted with him greatly to their regret, 

but he considered it his duty to accept a call to the Tabernacle 

church in New York, where he is now laboring with his usual 

success. Previously a strong effort was made to induce him to 

accept a call in Boston, but this he declined. 

The Tabernacle 'church is one of the old Baptist organizations of 

New York, having formerly worshiped in Mulberry street. Their 

present church edifice on Second avenue was dedicated September 

22d, 1850. There are about seven hundred members, and about 

eight hundred children in the different Sunday Schools. 

Mr. Hoyt is under the average height, and of a well-proportioned, 

round, solid person. His head is nearly round, with narrow chin, 

but with considerable breadth in the upper portion. The brow is 

prominent and handsome, and all the lower features are uniform and 

expressive. His eyes are small, but have much penetration, and a 

clear, honest gaze. His manners are frank and sincere, and have a 

propriety and confidence which is not always seen in a young man. 

He seems to be somewhat impulsive, and there is always a quickness 

of action about him ; but intimacy with him shows that he is really 

a very cool reflective person, and that the body acts quick because 

279 



ESV. WATLAND HOYT. 

the brain Is sudden and electrical in its action. His conclusions and 
determination are rapid, and to the point, in great matters and small. 
His warmth and frankness does not proceed from mere force of 
aabit, but is the genuine expression of true, earnest feelings of 
courtesy and good will. 

Mr. Hoyt is a preacher who soon wins the favor of his audience. 
His style of speech and manners is natural and earnest, but above 
all, he shows that he means and feels all that he says. He is terse 
and graphic while fluent. Although he is voluble, each word has 
its point and each sentence is round and complete. He reduces 
language to its most forcible phrases and mode of construction, and 
still his thoughts ai-e rapid and redundant, and their expression is 
equally so. He feels warmly, and this gives a glow and animation 
to his face and tone, and lifts him into flights of commanding and 
impassioned eloquence. His temperament is genial and sanguine, 
and his sermons bear witness of this condition in every line. He 
does not stand aloof from you, but, on the contrary, assails your 
heart on the instant He is full of warmth, love, friendship, and 
brotherhood. They brea'he forth in every word ; they beam in every 
glance, and they are expressed in every action. These traits in 
yourself he will appeal to, and bring them into action and harmony 
with his own feelings. His words ring in upon the mental convic- 
tions, and they light up the heart. They point the way to a new 
spiritual existence, but at the same time they quicken impulses 
which are calculated to make the temporal life nobler and more use- 
ful. Manhood and womanhood are developed into a higher perfec- 
tion and principle, and, especially, religious inspirations are kindled 
with fresh fires of devotion. He is sanguine of the future, and he 
fills his hearers with a like enthusiasm, and the same cheerful con- 
fidence. Some men have electrical influences in their words and 
manners, and Mr. Hoyt is such a person. The mind of the hearer 
makes no quibbling or questioning about reciprocating his genial 
advances to the heart, for the heart itself makes its instantaneous re- 
sponse. You at once accept him as a man of conscientious truthful- 
ness, as a counselor who regards your welfare from a standpoint of 
friendship, and as a spiritual leader, who, though sanguine and eager, 
is brave and devoted in the interest of the meanest follower. 

Mr. Hoyt is still young. But no one thinks of this when he 
preaches. The oldest man or woman, strong as they may be in their 
faith and in the wisdom of gathered years, may well pause and con- 

280 



REV. WAYLAND HOYT. 

sider the teachings which he utters in the sacred desk. If they are 
unaffected by his youthful enthusiasm and his ardent hopefulness, 
they cannot refuse attention to his learned exposition of doctrines 
and the logic and force of the arguments which are so large a portion 
of his discourse. Eeason and profundity are none the less so because 
they may be spoken by youthful lips. In fact, when they are thus 
spoken they generally become additionally impressive and potent. 
But with those of his own years Mr. Hoyt may well claim unlimited 
influence. He knows the weaknesses and the aspirations of the 
young heart, and he touches it as if with the wand of an enchanter. 
His countenance becomes its magic of human perfection, his words 
are its treasured truths, and his steps are its chosen way. It responds 
fully and earnestly to his own emotions, and it gives him the sole 
and complete control of its spiritual aspirations. 

Thus it is to be seen that Mr. Hoyt is in a position to do a great 
work. Powerful as is his present congregation in influence and 
Christian zeal, he is quite certain to give it still greater power and 
usefulness. He is drawing his people near to himself with singular 
fascination, and he is showing a strength of intellect and a physical 
energy which will produce great results in the field of effort which 
is so dear to both. Hopeful, courageous, and indomitable, he will 
best deserve success by a life and toil which will render him worthy 
of such a reward. 

Such is the character and talents of Mr. Hoyt. Strong in his 
natural powers, comprehensive and profound in his acquirements, 
ardent and ambitious in his professional application, he is on the 
threshold of a great future. His field of effort is vast, and offers 
every incentive to the exercise of all his powers aud capacity, and he 
is a man so eager for the discharge of every duty, and filled with so 
much religious ardor that he will neither falter in going forward to 
every task of difficulty, nor grow lukewarm by success. He is a 
chief reliance of the church in her struggle against evil, and he will 
be not less the friend and guide of those seeking the knowledge of a, 
purer life. His present advancement in his profession and denomina- 
tion, and his crowning and brilliant honors, have not made him 
exultant or vain, but simply incited him to new vigor, and strength- 
ened him in self-reliance. The full scope of his intellect and the en- 
tire sympathies of his heart will go with his work, which will always 

be measured by a tireless zeal. 

281 



REV. ADOLPHUS HUEBSCH, PH. 1)., 

RABBI OF" THE CONGREGATION AHATATH 
CHESED, NEW YORK!. 




>EV. DR ADOLPHUS HUEBSCH was born in the north, 
ern part of Hungary, September 18th, 1830. His early 
studies were in different Talmudical schools. At fourteen 
he could read and write only in the Hebrew ; but later he 
%p became engaged in other studies, especially the Syriac, Arabic, 
«*-3 and other Oriental languages. He attended the Gymnasium at 
Pesth for some time. H^ received his authorization as a rabbi at 
twenty, and four years later entered upon his first office iu an ortho- 
dox congregation in Hungary, where he remained about three years. 
In 1856 he entered the University in Prague, where he was gradu- 
ated in 1859, and received the degree of doctor of philosophy. He 
was at once invited to accept the position of rabbi and preacher of 
an ancient and influential congregation in Prague, where he contin- 
ued until called to his present congregation in New York, in 1866. 
He commenced his labors on the 26th of August of that year. It 
was regarded as no small tribute to his reputation for so young a 
man to be called to the powerful Congregation in Prague : and his 
invitation to come to New York was likewise a marked appreciation 
of his talents and fame. He now receives a salary of six thousand 
dollars a year, and his engagement is for eight years. 

The congregation Ahavath Chesed is classed among the moderate 
reform Jews, and was organized about twenty-five years ago. The 
first preaching was held in Columbia street, and afterward, about 1861, 
a church in Avenue C was bought and altered for a synagogue. 

On the 17th of April, 1872, a magnificent structure, built by the 
congregation, on the corner of Lexington avenue and Fifty-fifth 
street, was consecrated with imposing services. This edifice is built 
of stone, in the Moorish or Eastern style, and fronts 93 feet on Lex 
ington avenue, and 140 feet on Fifty-fifth street The front elevation 
is composed of five divisions — a section devoted to the main entrance, 

282 






KEV. ADOLPHUS HUEBSCH, PH. D. 

with a tower and a stair wing on each side. The height of the center 
or main division is 72 feet ; the towers 122 from the sidewalk to finial, 
and the stair wings 57 feet. The towers are at base 14 feet square 
to the height of the stair wings, and are then changed into octagons, 
with handsome cornices, ending with round metal cupolas, which are 
richly gilded, and visible at a long distance. The interior is very 
beautiful in Arabesque decorations, and costly appointments of every 
kind. Fourteen hundred people can be seated in the aisles and gal- 
leries. The cost of the ground and building was two hundred and 
seventy-five thousand dollars. 

The following extract from one of Dr. Huebsch's sermons shows 
his eloquent and tender style : 

"Beligion is the supporting staff of human frailty. The weak, the suffering, 
the needy experience most its soothing and consoling influence. The strong and 
apparently independent may be enticed to dispense with religion and to rely on 
their own power, rather than on the mercy of the most High for salvation. But the 
more dependent and helpless are moved by the conciousness of their condition to 
seek protection and aid from One whose might is never-failing, and whose love is 
everlasting, and ever ready to descend upon the meek. Hence, while man may be 
inclined to rebel against God, and to ignore His commands, woman's meek and 
submissive heart opens cheerfully to all the hopes and good promises which inure 
to a true and undaunted faith. When the Lord God said ' It is not good for the 
man to be alone, I will make a help -meet for him,' the merciful intention of God 
was not confined to the worldly comfort which man should derive from association 
with his lawful wife. God destined her as a messenger of undivided peace for 
the sons of earth ; her task was to sweeten his life by that loving care which makes 
a man's home a delight for him, and at the same time, the gentleness of her mind was to 
exert a beneficent influence upon his ruder nature ; and so she was to become a help 
for him, even in his spiritual affairs. A truly pious woman is irresistible. She 
makes us turn to goodness, gentleness, meekness, and true love; she brings us back 
to the source of all these qualities — to religion. Well armed, indeed, is the woman 
who in the fight of life makes religion her weapon. What else could compensate 
for her deficiency, and make her strong in her weakness ? By what other means 
could she insure her own contentment and the happiness of those inseparably con- 
nected with her heart ? A mighty queen without belief in God is poor and for- 
saken ; but the poor and forsaken, with a devoted trust in the All-merciful, she is 
elevated to the most noble kingdom — female excellency." 

Dr. Huebsch is the author of a work entitled " Peshito," which is 
a translation of a portion of the Syriac version of the Old Testament 
into the Hebrew, with a commentary. He has also prepared and 
published, for the use of his own, and other congregations, a 
prayer-book and hymn-book in Hebrew and German. Various ser- 
mons by him have been published, and he writes much on learned 
and occasional topics in the Jewish papers.' In 1871 he was the 

President of the Eabbinical Conference held in Cincinnati. 

283 



REV. ADOLPHUS HUEBSCH, PHD. 

He is a man in the prime of his mental and physical energies. 
Of the medium height, compact and erect, he has sufficient of the 
physical to uphold him in any task he may undertake, while his 
mental faculties are always earnestly bent upon study and the diffu- 
sion of intelligence. His head is large, with a fine brow, and the 
whole expression of his face is amiable and agreeable. In his man- 
ners be has an invariable politeness, which gives him great popular- 
ity. Although a close student, he is a man of a great deal of practi- 
cal observation and knowledge. He is liberal in all his views, and 
firm and enthusiastic in all his purposes. Hence, as he admits, he 
finds himself in exactly the position among the Jewish people, and 
in exactly the country of liberty and intelligence, where he can 
make his scholarship and energies of the most usefulness. The rise 
and increase of his con°reo;ation is due to his influence with the 
masses, not only as a spiritual teacher, but as a man and citizen. 

He preaches with a great deal of force and eloquence. There is 
no restraint or hesitation in his manner of dealing with his subject ; 
but whatever it may be, he displays the fullest information and com- 
prehension in regard to all its bearings. Learning and a practical 
realization of the needs of mankind are the chief features of all his 
discourses. Able and eloquent in delivery, they are sustained on 
his own part by a pure and consistent private life. 



284 



REY. ALBERT S. HUNT, D.D., 

PASTOR OF THE EXRST FJL.Jk.CJEi METHODIST 
CHURCH, BROOKLYN 




EV. DR. ALBERT S. HUNT was bora in Dutchess 
County, New York, July 3d, 1827. He was graduated 
at the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., in 
1851, being at the head of his class, and the valedicto- 
rian. This was the last class which was graduated under 
presidency of the late lamented and distinguished Stephen 
Olin, as he closed his earthly career not long after. 'Dr. Hunt 
remained at the University two years as tutor, and two years as As- 
sistant Professor of Moral Science and Belles-Lettres. He was al- 
ready a local preacher of the Methodist Church, and, after leaving 
the University, resumed his ministerial duties in connection with a 
new organization at Rhinebeck, N. Y., in the autumn of 1855. His 
health becoming impaired, he went to Europe, and traveled for five 
or six months, and did not again enter upon pastoral labors until 
the spring of 1859. Since that time his ministrations have all been 
in Brooklyn, as a member of the New York East Conference. Two 
years were spent at the Nathan Bang's Church, Clove Road : two 
years at the South Fifth Church, in the Eastern District, and then 
he received his first appointment to the First Place Church. He 
had been at other churches of the city, and several times at the First 
Place, receiving his last appointment at the Conference of the spring 
of 1874. He received his degree of D. D. from Wesley an Univer- 
sity in 1872. 

The First Place congregation grew out of a gathering of Meth- 
odists, who originally worshiped in Hicks street, and took its pres- 
ent designation in 1857. During the same year a church edifice 
was erected on First Place, the whole property costing $40,000. A 

remaining debt of $17,000 was paid in 1865. 

285 



EEV. ALBERT S. HUNT, D. D. 

Dr. Hunt is of a tall, and well-proportioned figure. His appear- 
ance is very plain, and, like most Methodist ministers, there is no- 
thing clerical in his dress. His head is neither large nor small, and 
the features are only in a measure indicative of the intellectual man. 
He is not a person much led by other men. His opinions are quickly 
formed, and he holds to them with the tenacity of life itself He is 
conscientious, and of a serious religious temperament. He has al- 
ways been a close student, and, while he goes slowly along the paths 
of knowledge and research, he gleans with thoroughness. He writes 
and speaks fluently. The most appropriate words are always at com- 
mand, and there is an appreciable strength and beauty in all that he 
employs. In public speaking he shows considerable absorption in 
his discussion, but he has not much gesture. He explains his sub- 
ject with great clearness. 

He is an able man in his denomination. He shuns notoriety in 
all its forms, but works patiently and faithfully for the reward of 
his own conscience. He may be called an enthusiast in Methodism. 
A master of its every tenet, he is made earnest and successful by 
an inspiration which never fails him. Fame and personal benefits of 
every character are valueless in the nobler effort to make known 
the source of his own religious peace. 

286 



REV. MANCIUS S. HUTTON, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH 
IN WASHINGTON SQUARE, NEW YORK. 




'EV. DR. MANCICJS S. HUTTON was born in the city 
of Troy, June 9th, 1803. He was graduated at Columbia 
College about his twenty-first year, and in theology at 
Princeton Seminary in 1826. He was first settled over 
the Presbyterian Church at Grerman Valley, New Jersey, in 
1828, which position he held for a period of six years. In 
December, 1834, he was called as colleague of Rev. Dr. Matthews, at 
the South Dutch Church, Exchange Place, New York. The church 
edifice was burned in the calamitous fire of 1835, and the congrega- 
tion finally divided on the question of selecting a new location further 
up town. A division of the property was made, and a portion of the 
congregation, bearing the old name, built a church on the corner of 
Murray and Church streets, while forty-nine members, with Drs. 
Matthews and Hutton for pastors, organized a congregation at the 
chapel of the University, and at length constructed a church on 
Washington Square, corner of Washington Place. The Murray 
street congregation now worship on Fifth avenue, but still retain the 
name of " South Church. ". 

The new church on Washington Square was dedicated in Septem- 
ber, 1810. It was a heavy undertaking for the congregation, the 
whole property having cost one hundred and eleven thousand dollars, 
and a large debt remained. Two years later dissatisfaction was ex- 
pressed with Dr. Matthews, who resigned, and Dr. Hutton became, 
and has since remained, the sole pastor. At the time the debt was 
eighty thousand dollars, all of which has been paid, and the church 
is now unencumbered. The building accommodates one thousand 
persons. 

Dr. Hutton's publications consist of sermons and addresses. His 
degree of D. D. was received from Columbia College many years 
since. 387 



REV. MAN" CI US S. HUT TON, D. D. 

Dr. Hutton is a very large man, being all of six feet high, with 
breadth of shoulders and general make in proportion. As he walks 
he has a slight inclination forward, but his movements are easy and 
stately. He is of light complexion, and has straight light hair, now 
becoming thin and gray. 

His face is large and round, with moderately-sized features, and an 
agreeable expression. There is considerable intellectual development, 
and you readily take him for a person of natural reflectiveness. His 
manners are polite, unassuming, cordial, and gentle. You find no 
trouble in getting acquainted with him. Whatever you talk about 
that is improving or entertaining he talks about also. Whatever 
emotion the topic may engender, be it seriousness or mirth, he dis- 
plays as much of it as anybody. He has one of those natures that 
wins from its very naturalness, from its frankness, and from its cheer- 
fulness. The truest manliness, the highest uprightness, and the best 
social qualities constantly appear, and it is as impossible to resist 
their influence as it is to doubt that they stand as the exact types of 
the man. Mingling freely and modestly among men, he is not less 
admired for beauties of character than he is accepted as an example 
of Christian and gentlemanly deportment. 

Dr. Hutton is a preacher of the old school. He preaches for the 
salvation of souls, and that alone. You look in vain in his sermons 
for a single sentiment showing that he has used the authority of his 
holy calling for any other end. In language the simplest, but with 
religious fervor the strongest, he argues plainly and emphatically the 
call to grace. His discourses are a masterly paraphrase of the 
Scriptures themselves, and a calm exposition of doctrine. Avoid- 
ing anything like an attempt to lead the mind into metaphysical ab- 
stractions, he struggles, as much in love as alarm, with the uncon- 
verted soul. Every line is strong in faith, every page shows the 
ardent purpose of arresting sin* and redeeming man ; aud the whole 
is pervaded with a most tender, pleading pathos. He speaks effect- 
ively, while without the slightest ostentation, having only a few or- 
dinary gestures. His fine, commanding figure, and never-varying 
devoutness of tone, add much to the effect of what he says. After 
forty-five years of active service in the ministry, he is still hale in 
body, and vigorous in mind, and as eager as at the outset in the har- 
vest of souls. 



REV. EDWARD P. INGERSOLL, A. ML, 

PASTOR OF THE M:iX>T>3L<E REFORMED CHURCH, 
R ROOKLYN. 




EV. EDWARD P. INGERSOLL, A. M., was born at 
Lee, Massachusetts, May 6th, 1834. He was graduated 
at Williams College in 1855, and in theology at Andover 
in 1863. He settled in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, 
where he became principal of the High School for a 
year. In 1858 he was graduated at a law school, and, having 
been admitted to the bar of Cleveland during the same year, 
he practiced for three years with success. Strong convictions of 
duty induced him to abandon the law, and enter upon theological 
studies at Andover. On the conclusion of his course, he was first 
settled as pastor of the Congregational church at Sandusky, 
Ohio, in December, 1863, in which position he remained between 
four and five years. He then went to the Plymouth Congrega- 
tional church in Indianopolis, Indiana, where he labored for two 
years. In 1869 he was called to the Middle Reformed Church, in 
South Brooklyn. 

This congregation was organized about thirty years ago, and 
public worship was conducted in a church on the corner of Court 
and Butler streets. The Rev. Mr. Otey was the first pastor, and 
after him came the Rev. Mr. Talmage, and then the Rev. Dr. 
Nicholas E. Smith, who officiated for a number of years, and was 
succeeded by Mr. Ingersoll. After some years the congregation had 
so increased that a large church edifice and chapel adjoining were 
erected, on Harrison street, near Court street There are about five 
hundred members, and the Sunday School has three hundred and 
fifty children. 

A few years since Mr. Ingersoll passed a vacation in travel in 
Europe. He has published various sermons, and writes occasionally 

for the religious press. 

289 



EEV. EDWARD P. INGEBSOLL, A.M. 

Mr. Ingersoll has an erect and graceful figure. He has a fine 
head, with a face of light complexion, and so expressive of the 
higher intellectual and moral characteristics, that you delight to 
study it. The eyes are large, and full of the truth and love and 
nobleness which are in the man, and in every feature and every 
line of the whole face there is to be seen some token of a truly 
manly and a truly elevated nature. His manners are equally fasci- 
nating, for they have a natural frankness, and they are the instant 
and emphatic evidence of his courtesy and good will. 

As a preacher, and a worker in the field of the Lord, he is one 
who makes no display of his talents, or of his ability in any particu- 
lar, but he preaches and he works for the single purpose of saving 
the lost. A man of much learned investigation, of a wide and prac- 
tical experience in life, he is a powerful speaker in the pulpit, and 
not less an energetic laborer out of it. Hence his ministry has been 
a great success. Of him it can be justly said that his reputation is 
based not only on personal worth, but on the usefulness of his 
talents and efforts to the community at large. 

290 



REV. DAVID INGLIS, LL.D., 

PASTOR OF THE REFORMED CHURCH ON 
THE HEIGHTS, BKOOKEYN. 




)EV. DAVID INGLIS, LL. D. was born at Greenlaw, 
Berwickshire, Scotland, June 8th, 1825. He is the son 
of the Eev. David Inglis, a well-known minister in the 
South of Scotland. He was graduated at the Edinburgh 
University, in 1841, and concluded a theological course at the 
same institution in 1846. His license to preach was given by 
the Presbytery of Carlisle, connected with the Presbyterian Church 
of England. In 1846, he came to the United States, and passed 
one year in the West without a charge. During the following year 
he commenced labor at Tubby Hook, near New York, at which 
place he continued for several years. In 1853 he was called to St. 
Gabriel Street Free Presbyterian Church of Montreal, where he re- 
mained until called, in 1855, to the MclSTab Street Presbyterian 
Church of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where he labored for sixteen 
years. He built up a very strong congregation, and there was a 
warm attachment between pastor and people. For some years he 
had held very close relations with Knox College, at Toronto, and, 
in September, 1871, he was elected by the General Assembly of 
the Canada Presbyterian Church, to the chair of Systematic Theol- 
ogy. Notwithstanding his reluctance to leave his congregation, he 
determined to accept the position, and accordingly entered upon his 
duties. In the next year, however, the postponement of an expected 
endowment of the institution obliged his resignation. He visited 
New York during 1842, and when preaching a sermon in the pulpit 
of his friend, the Eev. Dr. Ormiston, he was heard by a committee of 
the Reformed Church on the Heights, Brooklyn, and at once called 
to the position which he now occupies. 

The Reformed Church on the Heights grew out of the Central 
Reformed Church, who called the late Rev. Dr. Bethune from Phil- 

291 



REV. DAVID INGLIS, LL. D 

adelphia to Brooklyn, and erected a new church on Pierrepont street 
The church has a very eligible site on the Heights, and is a very 
fine building, with brown stone front, seating about one thousand 
two hundred people, and has a novelty of being lighted from the 
root In the rear is a spacious lecture-room, fronting on Monroe 
Place. The property cost about eighty thousand dollars, and is free 
from debt. Other pastors of the church were the Eev. Dr. James 
Eells, now of California, and Rev. Dr. Zachary Eddy, now of Detroit. 

Dr. Inglis received the degree of LL. D. from the Michigan Uni- 
versity. He published in London a work called " Crown Jewels," 
and in Canada, in 1861, two sermons under the respective titles of 
" The Memory of God's Gracious Dealings to be Cherished and Per- 
petuated," and " Righteousness Exalteth a Nation." He also pub- 
lished other sermons, and his inaugural lecture at Knox College, 
under the title of " Dogmatic Theology." He was a contributor to 
the Princeton Review, and Theological Journal, of New York, New 
York Observer, and other publications, and is now writing in the 
Christian Intelligencer, of New York. 

Dr. Inglis is of a tall, well-proportioned figure. He has a large 
head, with regular features. His manners are quiet and courteous 
to alL You experience no difficulty in feeling on easy terms with 
him, for he is so gentlemanly and pleasant, and falls so readily into 
unrestrained conversation, that you are placed on an immediate 
footing of intimacy. He is cheerful, warm, and sincere in all his feel- 
ings, drawing each person in good fellowship to himself, and giving 
back an abundance of good-will which cannot fail to be appreciated. 
He is profound in theological scholarship, and a powerful preacher 
of his faith. His whole nature and his deepest convictions are in- 
volved in his religious belief. At the same time he is a man of en- 
tire calmness and method in both action and thought. There is no 
display, no evidence of impulsiveness, but, on the contrary, that 
soberness of manner, and that calm deliberation which carry most 
weight in conversation and public speaking. He writes with force 
and eloquence, going deeply into the elucidation of his subject, and 
giving a scholar's care to the choice and effect of language. As a 
speaker his delivery is excellent, and he imparts to all that he says 
the impressive n ess which comes from dignity of bearing and origin- 
ality of reasoning. Always able and successful in his ministerial 
work, he is justly regarded as one of the strongest minds of the 

Evangelical Church. 

292 



REY. JOHN INSKIP, 

LATE PASTOR OE THE GREENE STREET 
METHODIST CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




>EV. JOHN S. INSKIP was born in Huntington, Eng- 
land, August 10th, 1816. When five years of age his 
father came to this country with the family, and settled in 
"Wilmington, Delaware. Mr. Inskip says that he considers 
himself a "full blooded native American," and feels no 
particular pride at the fact of his birth being in the realm of 
haughty "John Bull." His early education was pursued in the 
schools of Wilmington ; and later he spent some time at Dickinson 
College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He entered the itinerant ministry of 
the Methodist church, in connection with the Philadelphia Confer- 
ence, in 1835, and successively held appointments in Springfield, 
Cecil, and Nottingham circuits, in Maryland ; at Easton, Pennsylvania, 
Western, Kensington, and Salem churches. Philadelphia, and Ger- 
mantown. In 1845 he was transferred to the Cincinnati Conference, 
and appointed to the Ninth Street church in that city ; then going to 
Dayton, and subsequently to Urbana, Springfield, and Troy. After 
this he was transferred to the New York East Conference, and 
stationed at Madison Street church, New York City, and afterward 
at Fleet Street, Centenary, and De Kalb Avenue churches, Brooklyn, 
Ninth Street, New York, and then became chaplain of the Brooklyn 
Fourteenth Regiment, and served in the field equal to two ministerial 
years. He was- next stationed at Birmingham, Conn.; then at the 
South Third Street ehurch, in the Eastern District of Brooklyn, and 
in the spring of 1866 he was appointed to the Greene Street church, 
New York. 

More recently, Mr. Inskip has devoted his time to attending and 
conducting Camp Meetings as a revivalist Among other places 
visited by him was Utah, where he preached in a great tent, trans- 
ported thither for the meetings 

293 



REV. JOHN INSKIP. 

Mr. Inskip is the author of a work, entitled " Methodism Ex- 
plained and Defended," published in Cincinnati in 1851 ; and was 
editor of the True Freeman^ a weekly paper, formerly published in 
New York as the organ of the American Protestant Association. He 
was active in the Native American movement some years ago, and 
delivered various addresses before the Order of United Americans. 

Mr. Inskip is about of the medium height, with a full, round 
person, and an erect carriage. He has a round head, with small, 
regular features, and has an amiable, intelligent face. He is a social, 
genial man, and is always on the best terms with everybody. There 
is an independence and spirit of good nature about him which per- 
vade all his conduct, both in public and private, and make him not 
less a noticeable than an interesting character. He has had a world 
of experience with mankind, and in the events of life in his wide field 
of ministerial duty, and. like other veterans, he draws agreeably from 
his treasury of reminiscences for the entertainment and instruction 
of those with whom he comes in contact. He is in every sense the 
Methodist minister, having all the distinctive peculiarities which be- 
long to the individual in this branch of the clerical profession. Were 
he President of the United States, he would deem it a lighter honor 
than that of being one of the ministers of this his beloved church ; and 
it is his pride on all occasions to make known the fact, and act up to 
all the requirements of the position. The true representative Metho- 
dist minister is a self-made, self-educated, humble-minded, hard- 
toiling laborer in the vineyard of the Lord. Mr. Inskip soon lets you 
know that this is his exact measurement as a man and a clergyman. 
No place or company can prevent him from intruding himself as the 
independent, persistent exhorter. All times are his times for declaim- 
ing his religion, all places are his fitting sanctuary, and all persons 
are those to whom he makes himself a pastor. This is undoubtedly 
the true spirit of Methodism in its primitiveness and as a pre- 
eminently proselyting faith. The early Methodist preacher was a 
guide to the people, and an exhorter who was not to wait for Sab- 
baths and pulpits to make known his message, but to do it openly 
and fearlessly, at all times, and to all people. Mr. Inskip is such a 
man. He is busy with his religious work in season and out of season ; 
he exhorts with you whether you will or not, and you have to learn 
something about his Bible and Methodism whether you are pleased 
or not. He has an independent, off-hand, good-natured way with 

him that always carries his point, and without offence. It is not too 

294 



KEV. JOHN INSKIP. 

much to say that he has brought many a sheep into the fold by speak- 
ing when most other men would be silent, and that he has made him- 
self conspicuous in his denomination by an amount of faithfulness to 
his whole duty such as none of his cotemooraries have excelled and 
but few equaled. 

In speaking, at first his manner is very deliberate, and his voice 
is in rather a low tone, but as he proceeds he shows more animation. 
He speaks extemporaneously, but with a great deal of reflectiveness. 
He relates anecdotes and circumstances to illustrate his theme ; and 
at times he rises with an intense degree of feeling into the higher 
flights of impassioned eloquence. His preaching is declamatory and 
pathetic more than doctrinal or strictly argumentative. What argu- 
ment he uses is of the moral sort, drawn from the common events of 
life, and thus brought home to every listener. As he proceeds, mak- 
ing every thing clear as he goes, and stimulating more and more the 
feelings of his auditors, it is seen that the large and promiscuous 
audience is in the closest attention, and that on the part of many the 
utmost sensitiveness is displayed. His earnest pathos touches the 
chords of feeling, and it is not difficult for him to crowd his altar 
night after night "with new converts. 

At an early date the Methodist ministry was not an educated 
body of men. They were familiar with the text of the Bible and 
inspired with a holy zeal for their calling. At this time they have 
seminaries for the education of their ministers, and they require a 
higher standard of qualification before candidates are admitted to 
the full rank of ministers of the gospel. Hence every day shows an 
abler class of men in the Methodist pulpit, and the preaching is more 
learned. But, after all, the great force in their preaching is its de- 
clamatory style, its showy, moving eloquence, and its appeals to the 
feelings. 

Mr. Inskip takes this road to success in his ministry. Leaving 
the stricter mental questionings of the contrite hearer to take care of 
themselves, he assails the more vulnerable heart. He knows its 
weaknesses, how it may be softened, and how it is to be won. With 
matchless art, with all the promises and terrors of the scriptures at 
his tongue's end, with his own feelings as tender and kindly as his 
words are solemn and earnest, he struggles to unlock the hearts of his 
hearers to the impressions of religion, 

295 



REV. THEODORE IRVING, LL. D., 

T .. A TE RECTOH OE THE CHURCH OF TH.E 

MEDIATOR, IfEW YORK. 




,EV. THEODORE IRVING was born in the city 01 New 
York, May 9th, 1809. He is a nephew of the late 
Washington Irving, and was intimately associated with 
him in life. "While making preparations to enter Co- 
lumbia College he went abroad, in company with his 
uncle, and completed his education in Madrid, Paris, and 
London. At the time that Louis McLain was American minister 
at the court of St. James, Mr. Washington Irving was Secretary 
of Legation, and Theodore was the private secretary of his uncle. 
The latter returned to the United States in 1830,' and studied law 
a year in the office of Judge John Duer. He then became Pro- 
fessor of Belles-Lettres, History, and Modern Languages at Geneva 
College, now Hobart College, an Episcopal institution, where he 
remained thirteen years. During this period he received the degree 
of LL. D. from Union College. In 1851 he accepted the same pro- 
fessorship at the Free Academy, New York, in which position he 
remained three years, when he commenced the study of theology. 
In February, 1855, he was made deacon by Bishop Potter, at St. 
Mary's Church, Brooklyn ; and two months later he was admitted 
to the priesthood by the same bishop, at the Church of the Incarna- 
tion, New York. He was first settled as rector at Christ Church, 
Bay Ridge, Long Island, remaining two years ; then going to St. 
Andrew's, Richmond, Staten Island, where he remained eight years, 
until his health failed him. He received a call to the chair of Pulpit 
Eloquence and Pastoral Care in the Divinity School of Philadelphia, 
and at the same time to the rectorship of the Church of the Mediator, 
New York. Having accepted the latter, he commenced his duties in 
January, 1865. 

His health failing, he went to Europe in the spring of 1867, and 
returned home in the autumn, when he resigned his rectorship of the 

296 



REV. THEODORE IRVING, LL. D. 

Media or, and took charge of St. Paul's, Newburg, in the absence 
of the rector, for one year. In 1869 be was called to Staten Island, 
to organize a new parish in that place, where he had a chapel when 
he was rector of St. Andrew's. The congregation erected a beautiful 
stone church (The Ascension), and he remained there three years, and 
then accepted a call to become President of a Ladies' College in 
Canada. Here he remained eighteen months, and became so charmed 
with the work that he determined to introduce the same plan in a 
school among his own people, satisfied that there was room in the city 
of New York for a Christian school for young ladies. He is now 
conducting such an establishment. The peculiar feature of this 
school is, that while affording the highest kind of scholastic train- 
ing, especial regard is given to the Christian culture of all the young 
ladies who enter it 

Dr. Irving is the author of " Conquest of Florida," " Fountain of 
Living Water," and "The Tiny Footfall." He gave considerable aid 
to his distinguished uncle in the preparation of several of his works 
for the press. 

Dr. Irving is about of the medium height, equally proportioned, 
and of graceful, active movements. There is the tone of the highest 
breeding in his manner, and his countenance has that intelligence and 
pleasantness which are so attractive. Nature made him a gentleman, 
and culture has done nothing more than to develop and adorn in- 
herent qualities. A man of this kind is always genial. Dignity is 
softened by a thousand acts of politeness, and the heart, overflowing 
with its social instincts, its friendship, and its affection, teaches the 
lips only expressions of courtesy and gentleness. With Dr. Irving 
there is an ever-present dignity ; but intercourse with him is totally 
without restraint, from the fact of his exceeding genialitv. His 
warmth of manner is likewise characterized by an unmistakable sin- 
cerity. He means all that he appears. His conversation is very 
animated, and whenever it is proper turns to the cheerful side of 
matters. His intellectual capabilities are of the highest order. You 
see it in his round, full brow, his clear, speaking eyes, and, indeed,. 
the whole expression of his face. It is evident that he is a man of a. 
deep, comprehensive mind, and the greatest ardor in the pursuit of- 
learning. He exhibits no pedantry, hardly a consciousness of any 
thing more than an ordinary degree of culture, and his intelligence 
and acquirements seem as mere resources to promote genial associa- 
tion. 

297 



REV. THEODORE IRVING, LL. I). 

Mr. Irving has distinguished himself as a professor. The traits 
we have mentioned give him unbounded power as a teacher, and he 
has been most successful in the departments in which he has given 
instruction. As a writer he also excels. His intimacy with Wash- 
ington Irving gave him the benefit of one of the best masters of Eng- 
lish composition who ever lived. And much of the purity of diction, 
simplicity of style, and tenderness of tone which have made the writ- 
ings of his gifted uncle so noted appear in his own compositions. His 
sermons contain a happy mingling of learned, logical argument, and 
delicate religious sentiment He has very little gesture, but his voice 
is distinct and animated. 



REV. SAMUEL M. ISAACS, 

BABBI OF THE CONGREGATION SHAABAT 
TEFILA, NTEW YORK, 




EV. SAMUEL M. ISAACS was born in Leewarden, 
Holland, in January, 1804. His father was a banker in 
that city, but losing all his property by the French war, 
he emigrated to England. Our subject was Princi- 
pal of an educational and charitable institution in London 
for several years. In 1839 he came to' New York,' where 
he had received a call to the old Elm Street Synagogue (Bnai 
Jeshurum). He might be called the "father of the Jewish 
clergy " in this city, as he has been residing here longer than any of 
the other ministers. His learning and eloquence attracted crowds of 
visitors — Christians in large numbers, to the synagogue where he was 
to be heard. He lectured in the English tongue, and so little was 
known of the Jews and Judaism at that time, that people were 
anxious to be informed on these topics. The congregation Shaaray 
Tefila, or " Grates of Prayer, " grew out of the Elm Street Synagogue 
in 1845, and he was elected its minister. 

This body of Jewish worshipers held its first services in Franklin 
street, near Broadway, but erected a synagogue in Wooster street, 
near Prince, in 1845. The building, however, gave way to the up- 
town movement of these people, and was sold in 1864. In September, 
1864, the congregation dedicated its third place of worship in the 
building at the corner of Thirty-sixth street and Broadway, where it 
remained during the erection of a synagogue in West Forty-fourth 
street. This structure is one of the most magnificent public edifices 
in New York, and, in fact, in the world. It occupies a lot one hun- 
dred feet square. The material is Newark freestone, with Dorchester 
for trimmings, and the architecture is of the Moorish type. All the 
windows are of stained glass, exquisite in color and design. The 
columns supporting the arches over the main entrance are delicately 
wrought, and the entire ornamentation is very tasteful. Four massive 

299 



REV. SAMUEL M. ISAACS. 

columns support the roof, having their capitals elegantly decorated, 
and their shafts bronzed. From these columns spring grand arches 
longitudinally and transversely. The ceiling is highly decorated, 
blue, light chocolate and -white being the principal colors. The walls 
are decorated in light buff, relieved by the beautifully stained glass 
windows and the ornamental borders. The seats are of black walnut, 
and richly cushioned. The Almenor or reading desk is ornate in 
design, and richly finished in hard wood. The Ark, with which the 
pulpit is combined, is the most elegant erection of its class in the 
country. It is of black walnut, with ornaments of oak and other 
woods, carved and inlaid. The columns are chaste ; the bases and 
capitals ornate. Above the ark is a beautiful rose window of stained 
glass. An elegant curtain of crimson satin, with velvet border and 
centerpiece, embroidered in bullion, hangs before the Ark. The 
pulpit is of black-walnut, with oak inlaid, and richly carved. The 
entire auditory floor is covered with handsome Axminister carpet. 
The building also contains four large school-rooms, a chapel, a par- 
lor for ladies, retiring-room for gentlemen, beside other apartments. 
The choir is located in the gallery. The cost of this splendid struc- 
ture was two hundred thousand dollars, of which the large sum of 
sixty thousand was for the Ark. 

The ceremonial of consecration took place on the afternoon of 
Thursday, May 11th, 1869. The music was by a choir and thirty-five 
pieces of music. The possession of the synagogue was placed in the 
keeping of the President by an appropriate address, and the delivery 
of a silver key. - The scrolls of the law were then brought with due 
ceremouy from the vestibule by the appointed bearers. As the Ark 
was approached the perpetual light was lighted, and the receptical 
was opened by the past-President. Seven circuits of the synagogue 
were then made by the bearers, the choir chanting psalms mean- 
while. At the close of this last circuit the scrolls of the law were re- 
turned to the Ark, the choir chanting a psalm. A consecration 
discourse was then delivered by the minister, and a prayer offered 
for the welfare and perpetuity of the United States government. A 
concluding hymn and benediction closed the services. 

In 1866 the Eev. H. Philips was elected reader. Kev. Mr. Isaacs 
devotes himself exclusively to the duties of minister, and discourses 
regularly every other Saturday. The services adhere very closely to 
those adopted by the synods of centuries ago, and are entirely in 
Hebrew, except the sermon and prayer for the government The 

300 



EEV. SAMUEL M. ISAACS. 

males are seated below and the females in the galleries. Scarfs are 
worn by the males and the hats are retained. There is no organ- 
die chorals are chanted hj men and boys. 

The Jewish Messenger thinks that there are not less than eighty 
thousand Jews in New York, because the New Year, holidays found 
upward of thirty synagogues crowded to excess, and there were at 
least twenty temporary shrines opened for the solemn season, all full 
to repletion. In the eastern section of the city, from Fourteenth to 
Seventieth street, there were ten minor halls fitted up as synagogues, 
and all were full. In 1706 the first Jewish congregation was formed 
in New York, and in 1744 the first synagogue was built. In 1839 there 
were only three synagogues in the city ; but ten years later they had 
greatly increased. There are now some three hundred and twenty 
in the United States. Mr. Isaacs has himself consecrated thirty-eight 
synagogues in different parts of the country, including the first one 
ever built in the State of Illinois. 

The first Jewish settlers in the United States emigrated from the 
Dutch West Indies and Guiana, and Holland itself, and established 
themselves at Newport, E. I., New York, Charleston and Savannah. 
The earliest record dates back to 1660, when a charter was granted 
by the province of New Amsterdam to the Jewish community, 
authorizing the laying out of a burial ground. There is a syna- 
gogue standing at Newport, E. I., erected more than a hundred and 
fifty years ago. 

Eev. Mr. Isaacs has been for many years the editor of the Jewish 
Messenger, a weekly journal which is the organ of the strict, or con- 
servative Jews, and of which he is also the publisher in connection 
with two of his sons. He wields a ready and powerful pen, and has 
done as much as any man in this country in establishing the Jewish 
press. He is connected with all the Jewish charities of New York, 
some of which he was active in founding. 

Mr. Isaacs is under the average height, and very active in his tem- 
perament. His head is small, but of intellectual appearance, and he 
has regular, delicate features. He has clear hazel eyes, hair sprinkled 
with gray, and white whiskers. In his manners he is very pleasing, 
being frank, courteous, and warm with all persons, and he shows 
much animation in conversation. He is cheerful, and noted for a 
keen sense of humor. The strong points of his character are 
amiability, benevolence, and piety, and, above all, firmness to prin- 
ciples, opinions, and purposes. He enjoys excellent health, owing to 

01 



REV. SAMUEL M. ISAACS. 

his regular habits and indefatigable industry. He rises early, and 
attends synagogue every morning before seven o'clock. He is a 
strict Jew in every sense. He stands at the head in this country of 
the old school of Jews. This is the party who resist the innovations 
in the service of the synagogue, which are advocated and carried out 
by the class known as radicals, who are now not by any means incon- 
siderable in numbers. In his pulpit and his paper, Mr. Isaacs brings 
all the power of his talents, learning, and force of character to uphold 
Judaism in its primitive characteristics ; and he has done it with an 
ability and success which have given him a wide fame in his own 
religious body, and among the people generally. His style as a 
preacher is logical and emphatic. The power of his erudition, and 
his superior natural comprehensiveness, are seen in all his statements 
and arguments, and his earnest tones and manner show how sincerely 
his heart is in all that he utters. He is honest, fair, and sometimes 
perhaps a little blunt in the discussion of all questions, but at the 
same time there is not less display of the tender and sympathetic 
emotions of the heart His people are drawn to him by unusually 
strong ties. He is the embodiment and illustration of their cherished 
principles of faith, and in his personal character stands pre-eminent 
for the highest qualities which can adorn the individual, clergyman, 
and citizen. 

303 



REV. BISHOP EDMUND STORER JANES, D. D., 

OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL, CHURCH. 




lEY. BISHOP EDMUND STORER JANES, D. D., was 
born in Sheffield, Berkshire county, Mass., April 27th, 
1807. At the time he was fonr years of age his parents 
removed to Salisbury, Connecticut, From 1824 to 1830 
he was engaged in teaching, and during three years of this period 
found opportunity to give attention to the study of the law. 
When about to seek admission to the bar, the sudden death of the 
person with whom he was to associate himself in business, and his 
own religious conversion, induced him to change his plans and com- 
mence preparations for entering the Methodist ministry. His first ap- 
pointment was in April, 1830, at Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he 
remained two years. Subsequently he preached at Orange, was an 
agent of Dickinson College for three years, pastor of churches in 
Philadelphia for three years, pastor in New York for two years, and 
Financial Secretary of the American Bible Society for four years. His 
change from the last-named position was occasioned by bis being 
elected one of the nine bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 
1844. Six years of the time enumerated were likewise given to the 
study of theology ; and while performing the active duties of the pas- 
torship he also undertook the study of medicine, without any design, 
however, of changing his profession. He was ordained deacon in 
1852, and elder in 1854. In 1842 he received the degree of M.D. from 
the Vermont University, and in the same year that of A. M. from 
Dickinson College, and in 1844 that of D. D., also from the latter in- 
stitution. His field of labor as bishop has been chiefly in New 
York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In 1857, and again in 1863, 
he visited California. During a visit to Europe he presided over one 
of the German Conferences; and he was elected a delegate to 
the British Conference of 1865. He has traveled in all 
the States except Florida, and in most of the Territories. In 1859 he 

303 



, 



REV. BISHOP EDMUXD S. JANES, I). D. 

attempted to hold a conference in Texas, in the interest of the church 
north, but himself and the body were mobbed and dispersed. The 
particular district in which each bishop is employed is a subject of 
arrangement between themselves once a year, and the intention is that 
each shall at some time visit every portion of the church. The 
salary and traveling expenses of the bishops are paid out of the pro 
fits of the Methodist Book Concern. 

This powerful and wealthy establishment was organized in 1789, 
in Philadelphia, with a borrowed capital of only $600. It was con- 
ducted by agents, who, up to 1808, were stationed like other preach- 
ers. The business was at length removed to New York, and from 
one street to another until, in 1833, it was located in Mulberry street, 
where the manufacturing is still carried on in an extensive building. 
In 1836 the building, machinery, and most of the stock were destroyed 
by fire. In the spring of 1799 the whole amount of capital, includ- 
ing debts, amounted to $4,000 ; five years later it had reached $27,000, 
and in 1808 it was $15,000. An exhibit for 1864 shows its total 
assets to be $562,694 74, and the profits in four years to have been 
$205,285 34. The sales of books and periodicals, from 1860 to 1863, 
amounted to $1,507,873 18. During the same period two hundred 
and eighty-on i new works were issued, besides picture papers, Sunday- 
school tracts, &c. The serial publications issued are the Christian 
Advocate and Journal, the Quarterly Review, the Sunday-School Advo- 
cate, circulating nearly two hundred and thirty thousand copies ; 
the Sunday-School Teachers' Journal, the Good News, circulating some 
fifty thousand copies mouthly in the army and navy ; the Pacific 
Christian Advocate, and California Christian Advocate. 

On the separation of the Methodist Church into a division North 
and South, occasioned by differences on the slavery question, the 
southern section claimed a share of the Book Concern property and 
business. The claim was resisted by the church North, and a suit 
ensued, which led to a great deal of bad feeling in and out of the 
church, and, being carried to the Supreme Court of the United 
States, was decided in favor of the church South. A final settlement 
was effected in 1853, by which the Book Concern agreed to pay to 
the church South $191,000 in cash, $40,648 51 in notes and accounts, 
making $231,648 51. Expenses in suit, $2,063. Total, $233,71151, 
leaving the nominal capital $439,798 39. 

The profits of the Book Concern not only pays the salary and ex- 
penses of the bishops, but dividends are appropriated to the benefit 

304 



REV. BISHOP EDMUND S. JANES, D. D. 

of the traveling, supernumerary, superannuated, and worn out preach- 
ers, their wives, widows, and children. In consequence of the division 
of the property with the church South, dividends were suspended in 
1853. They were resumed again in 1863, when a dividend of $400 
was made to forty conferences. A few years since a large purchase 
of property was made on Broadway. 

' The report to the General Conference in 1872, shows that the 
total cost of the lots, building and fixtures, 805 Broadway, was 
$950,356 62 ; that portions of it are rented out for $72,700, which 
not only pays seven per cent on the investment, but leaves a balance 
of $6,175 04 towards paying the taxes and insurance. The sales for 
the last four years amounted to $2,426,840 42, on which there was a 
net profit of $275,140 17, and, together with income from other 
sources, made a total income of $362,094 67. Biit out of this sum 
were paid, by order of the General Conference, for salaries and travel- 
ing expenses of the bishops, &c, $105,413 04, leaving the net amount 
of $256,681 63 to be added to capital. This net capital aggregated, 
November 30th, 1871, the sum of $1,055,179 57. The real estate 
owned by the several Concerns, East and West, amounts to $957,104 
13 ; the merchandise, to $518,616 12 ; cash on hand, $75,159 25 ; 
notes and accounts, $305,446. Total assets, $1,850,315 50. The 
liabilities are $735,135 93, and the gross earnings from sales are $63,- 
095 92. The report further presents a fair showing for the various 
publications, books, tracts, magazines, periodicals, &c, and concludes 
with the statement that the Book Concern was never in as good con- 
dition for transacting business as at the present time. It has more 
room, and has increased the number of its presses to keep pace with 
the demands for their publications. 

Bishop Janes has no publications except pamphlet sermons, and 
an "Address to Class Leaders." We make the following extract 
from the last, showing the origin and purpose of class leaders in the 
Methodist Church : 

"When Mr. Wesley, moved by the Holy Ghost, entered upon his wonderful 
ministerial career, he was so much in sympathy with Jesus when, by the Grace of 
God, he tasted death for every man, that he felt and declared, ' The world is my 
parish.' This with him was a practical sentiment. Hence his intense zeal in the 
sacred office, his entire devotedness to it, the energy, patience, perseverance, and 
disinterestedness with which he labored to fulfill it. So intent was he on success in 
his work, that he employed every auxiliary which he could command. And in this, 
more than anything else, is the pre-eminence of that man of God seen — his tact and 
talent in the employment of others, in taking assistance whenever and wherever he 

305 



BEY. BISHOP EDMUND S. JANES, D. D. 

could find it, using the whole talent of the church for the furtherance of the glorious 
ministerial enterprise of his heart and hands. As a wise master-builder, he knew 
just what to do with every class of talent, just how to direct and employ all the life 
and love, all the intelligence and piety of the church of which he was an overseer ; 
and hence in that church which he founded there is such a division of authority, 
responsibility, and service, as is found in no other. In fulfilling his ministry he 
soon found that the invitations to preach and the opportunities to be useful wera 
more numerous than he could improve; consequently he employed fellow-laborers, 
who devoted themselves wholly to the work of the ministry, and were with him as- 
sociated pastors of the people. Very soon, such was the progress of the work, that 
these openings became too numerous for himself and his co-laborers to fill. He 
provided for this lack by instituting a lay ministry, who, in the absence of the pas- 
tors, should be their representatives, and who should preach in their stead, as 
laborers together with them in the vineyard of the Lord .Tesus Christ. The multiply- 
ing of appointments to preach, the enlarging of their sphere, and the circuit form 
of their work, were found to deprive the people of appropriate and needful pastoral 
supervision and care. His spiritual genius at once provided for this want, and that 
provision is found in the office and work of the class-leader. When the American 
Methodist Episcopal Church was organized this office was appropriately understood 
and recognized, and class-meetings were made an integral and essential part of our 
ecclesiastical economy, and from that day to the present this institution has been one 
of the developments of the great power which the church has exerted, and of the 
great success which God has given us. 

"From this history of the origin of class-meetings, we learn that to assist the 
itinerant minister in his pastoral work was the primary reason for their institution. 
This reason is a very conclusive andurgert one. Owing to the itinerant character 
of our ministry, there is no other way in which our pastoral work can be fully and 
properly performed. It is necessary that the preacher, who comes as a stranger, 
should have the help of the leader to introduce him at once to his people, and to 
make known to him their spiritual estate. The office is especially necessary that the 
pastoral work may be carried out in detail, that every member may be visited and 
conversed with personally as frequently as his spiritual welfare requires. It is in- 
dispensable that we should have this office, in order that there may be a permanent 
pastorate in the church; a pastor whom the people shall all know and understand, 
and be acquainted with his affection and sympathy for, and his interest in, them, and 
that in the interchange of pastors there may be no time when there shall not be in 
the church an appropriate pastoral supervision and superintendence. These interests 
are all happily secured when competent leaders, as the discipline requires, ' see each 
person in their classes once a week at least, in order — 1st, to inquire how their souls 
prosper; 2d, to advise, reprove, comfort, or exhort, as occasion may require.' " 

Bishop Janes is a little under the medium height, and of a round, 
well-proportioned person. His head is ample in size, with a high, broad 
brow, and otherwise unif rm and intelligent features. He has gray 
hair, a venerable appearance, and a quiet though impressive dignity. 
His expression is serious and severe in the extreme, and he has a cold, 
searching gaze, but he is nevertheless a man of kindly and generous 
sympathies. You judge him at once to be an original thinker and an 
earnest worker. His mind is always grappling, always solving, always 

ii06 



REV. BISHOP EDMUND S. JANES, D. D. 

illuminating some Christian problem, and his energies are ever toiL 
ing, ever achieving, and ever pressing onward in the line of his Epis- 
copal duties. For him rest and weariness of the mental or physical 
nature are almost impossibilities. From youth up, through the 
course of his self-denying and varied studies, and both as pastor and 
bishop, his entire life has been made up of thought and effort. His 
countenance tells the story of intellectual aspirations and of his never- 
faltering spirit. It declares that his yearnings are for intellectual, 
moral, and religious advancement, and it shows that decision and 
sternness of purpose which seldom fail to secure success in any plan. 
Intercourse with the bishop can only confirm this judgment of him 
Gentlemanly and courteous, he is always reserved. In his opinions 
he is ever consistent and frank, and they testify to sterling traits of 
character, as well as the largest intelligence and the most absorbing- 
piety. He stands before .you the scholarly gentleman, the serious- 
minded Christian, and one who will teach you, by the example of his 
life, under no circumstances whatever, to weary of expanding and 
adorning the mind, and purifying and redeeming the soul. 

Bishop Janes is a calm, unassuming preacher. His voice is feeble, 
so much so, that in an ordinary conversation it requires close attention 
to hear what he says, and in public he speaks with evident labor, at 
lengthy intervals, however, being decidedly animated. He has none 
of that declamatory boisterousness common with Methodist preachers, 
and his whole delivery is thoughtful and subdued. Whether his ser- 
mon is written, or, as is generally the case, extempore, it has the same 
features of premeditation, close, critical reasoning, and devout, re- 
ligious sentiment 

307 



REV. DANIEL V. M. JOHNSON, 

JIEC'TOR OF ST. MARY'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 

BROOKLYN 




EV. DANIEL V. M. JOHNSON was born in Brooklyn, 
June 7th, 1S12. He received an academic education, 
and was graduated at the Episcopal General Theological 
Seminary, New York, in 1835. He was ordained dea- 
in the same year, and priest in 1836. After a short 
*&2 period at Trinity, now St. Luke's Church, Brooklyn, he went 
to the west, where he officiated until ill-health obliged his return to 
his native city. In the fall of 1842 he became rector of St. John's 
Church, Islip, Long Island, and thus continued for nearly five years. 
He was next called to the Holy Comforter, floating chapel, New 
York, and, after a service of nine years to the parish of St. Mary's, 
Brooklyn, founded by himself long previously as a free church. A 
new edifice was completed in 1859, on a new site on Classon avenue, 
the whole property costing $30,000. The congregation is composed 
of over two hundred families and three hundred communicants. 

Mr. Johnson has always declined to have any of his sermons 
published, and reprehends the practice. In this matter he seems to 
run counter to the generally entertained impression that good seed 
cannot be too widely scattered. 

He is a person under the medium height, of a well-knit frame 
and somewhat muscular appearance. In early life he suffered the 
loss of an eye, which, however, is not much noticed, as he wears spec- 
tacles. His face has a pleasant, though decided expression. It is 
readily to be seen that he is a strict, conscientious man, and one 
never given to frivolity, and scarcely to smiles. His head bespeaks 
a practical rather than a keen or brilliant mind. As far as every- 
day affairs are concerned; as far as his judgment is called into exer- 
cise in regard to the common-sense rules of duty ; as far as culture 
may be turned to account in a plain, methodical way, he is a man 
of great value to his congregation and friends. In these particulars 

BOS 



EEY. DANIEL V. M. JOHNSON. 

he never makes a mistake, and those who have enjoyed his counsel 
in times of affliction, when the judgment was at fault, when the road 
of duty was not clear, and when the common sense of theology was 
sought for, have found him a rare and experienced guide. 

Mr. Johnson's life has been very remarkable for constant and 
severe labor in his profession. Under manifold and the most dis- 
couraging difficulties, he has steadily pursued his work of devotion 
and faith. He has been in poor parishes — among the sailors, and at 
times pressed upon by a weight of discouragement, in reference to 
all concerning him, that few could have supported. But, with a sole 
and confident reliance on the promises of his religion, he has breasted 
every storm and surmounted thickening difficulties, ever standing a 
noble example to his fellow Christians. Without question this 
toiling, suffering, faithful life is the true evidence of the Master's 
spirit. It is the humble and retired walks of Christian usefulness, 
the seeking of new fields, and the ingathering of the lowly that ex- 
hibit the highest traits of the sanctified man. 

Consider for a moment a picture of one of the classes of clergy- 
men. He is prayerful, patient, and poor. He asks little of Provi- 
dence ; and would be satisfied with less than he gets. He wears 
shabby clothing, and he reduces his family expenses down to the 
lowest figure, and saves something for those worse off than himself. 
Early in the morning and late into the night he is occupied with 
study, prayer, or some duty in the cause of sinners. He preaches 
not only in his own church, but for the feeble organizations round 
about; he goes among the Sabbath schools with books, and he is 
constantly originating new plans for the enlargement of his own 
work and the benefit of the church. He never falters ; he never 
complains ; he never stops the moral plow to which he has set his 
hand. A large family grow up about him, and if he has one desire 
above another it is to educate his children and make them useful 
members of society. Worn down with his severe labors, perhaps 
actually prostrated by ill-health, he finds difficulties and disappoint- 
ments pursue his steps, and at times sorrow and gloom seem to have 
overwhelmed him. But in the darkest hour he beholds the face of 
his God shining upon him, and when his fellow-men, knowing his 
situation, expect him to faint and despair, he is sustained by an 
anchor and encouraged by an inspiration which come from above. 
He struggles on ; he keeps busy in the same heroic labor of Christian 
love, only to close his efforts with his pure, martyr-like life. 

800 



KEV. DANIEL V. M. JOHNSON". 

This picture is a just representation of Mr. Johnson. Happily 
he has been successful in his work ; and now, in the descending road 
of life, he finds himself at the summit of his ambition. It is not to 
labor less, not to repose on laurels obtained, not to think that there 
is anything less of patience and toil. But it is that he has been able 
to gather a congregation who esteem his labors, and who have sta- 
tioned him in a temple forever free to all. In a distant part of the 
city, in a field which he has diligently cultivated through years of 
barrenness, he may well appreciate the fruit of which he is the 
husbandman. 

Mr. Johnson preaches a plain, solid sermon. He has drawn 
about him a class of people who want the truth in its plainest dress ; 
and he never disappoints them. Dealing much in common-place 
ideas, and following very strictlv the beaten path laid out by the 
learned of the church, with very little that is original, he preaches a 
sermon abounding in common-sense argument and religious counsel. 
His voice is somewhat harsh. He reads effectively, and at times 
shows considerable animation. This animation, however, is with no 
idea of display, but comes from earnestness of personal conviction 
and feeling. 

If in the byways of Brooklyn there is a poor sinner seeking an 
altar free to all comers, and a preacher wholly devoted to the salva 
tion of souls, let him or her attend Mr. Johnson's ministrations. 

310 



REV. DAYID B. JUTTEN, A. M., 

PA8TOK OF THE SIXTEENTH STREET BAPTIST 
CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




EV. DAVID B. JUTTEN, A. M., was born in New 
York, January 7th, 1844. After attending different 
public schools of the city, he "went to Madison Uni- 
versity, at Hamilton, New York, where he was graduated 
in 1867. He then took a theological course in the same in- 
^ stitution, which was completed in 1870. While at the Uni- 
versity he took temporary charge of a church in Central New 
York, and after graduation went for a short time to one in New 
Jersey. At the last named period his health was not good, and he 
was seeking its restoration. During 1870 he was called to the E 
Street Baptist Church, Washington City, where he remained three 
years. Having accepted a call to the Sixteenth Street Church, New 
York, as the successor of the Eev. Dr. William S. Mikels, he was 
installed on the last Sunday in June, 1873. 

The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was organized in October, 
1833, with eighteen members, of whom ten were females and eight 
males. The first preaching was in a hall in Eighteenth street, and 
Eev. David Bernard was called as the first pastor. Eev. Dr. Alonzo 
Wheelock was with the congregation nearly seven years, and Eev. 
J. W. Taggart about eight years. Dr. Mikels was the next pastor, 
and thus remained for a period of sixteen years, until May, 1873, 
when impaired health obliged him to resign. 

Two pastors have temporarily supplied the pulpit, one of whom 
was the Eev. Dr. Hodge, a noted name in the Baptist denomination. 
In 1839 a new church edifice was built in Sixteenth street, near 
Eighth avenue, which was greatly enlarged in 1857, at a cost of some 
fourteen thousand dollars. The members now number between seven 
and eight hundred persons. The regular Sunday school has five 

311 



REV. DAVID B. JUTTEN, A.M. 

hundred scholars and sixtj r officers and teachers, and a Mission school 
has been established in Hudson street 

Mr. Jutten is of the medium height, and equally proportioned. 
His head is of good size and form, while the face is expressive of an 
amiable character. His greeting to all is frank and sincere. .A very 
short acquaintance with him shows him to you as he will always be 
found. He is plain, matter-of-fact, and honest in all that he says and 
does, making no pretensions in any particular, but quickly proving 
himself to you, in both mind and conduct, to be a man of the most 
commendable qualities. Calm and self-possessed in his nature, he is 
one who never hesitates in the line of his duty, nor is he ever at a 
loss to know exactly what it is. Socially there can be no person 
more agreeable and more interesting with the young and old, and in 
his public character there is the same adaptability and harmony of 
the individual with his position. 

Mr. Jutten is by no means a fanatic or bigot, but at the same 
time he is a clergyman of very deep and earnest religious convictions. 
His own life is measured by strict and conscientious rules of personal 
action, and he seek through it, and by his teachings in the pulpit, 
and out of it. to illustrate, not only the necessity for the religious 
culture of eveiy person, but the pleasure and profit in it. Thus im- 
pressed, he preaches with peculiar force and pathos. He does not 
seem to be desirous of making any display of his own talents, but he 
prayerfully and earnestly calls to the unconverted to be saved, and 
upon all to look closely to the acts of eveiy hour of their existence. 
He argues with a great deal of power, for his scholarly ability is by 
no means limited, and his eloquence, though calm and modest, is 
very effective. Hence, in the Eev. David B. Jutten, the Baptist 
ministry has a most devoted and efficient representative, and the 
community at large one of its strong champions against evil 

312 




&/»***/&. 




S^t^^L^L^Zs 



REV. JOSEPH KIMBALL, D.D., 

P.A.&STOR OF THE FIRST REFORMED CHURCH, 

BROO ILEYIV. 




'EV. DR JOSEPH KIMBALL was born at Newburgh, 
New York, August 10th, 1820. His academic course 
was pursued at his native place. He was graduated at 
Union College in 1839, and in theology at the Associate 
Eeformed Seminary in 1844. He was ordained in the latter 
year, and first settled at Hamptonburgh, Orange County, "New 
York, where he remained eight years. After this he went to a church 
in Washington county, where he continued two years and a half, and 
then to a Presbyterian Church at Brockport, New York, over which 
he officiated for seven years. He next accepted a call to the Fishkill 
Eeformed (then Dutch) Church, where he labored for two years and 
a half, and was thence called to his present field, the First Eeformed 
Church of Brooklyn, where he was installed November 21st. 1865. 

The organization of the First Eeformed Church dates as far back 
as when the colony was under the Dutch regime. The records show 
that two hundred and nineteen years ago, in the year 1654, Gover- 
nor Stuyvesant, then little less than the omnipotent ruler of the colony, 
ordered the inhabitants of Flatbush, Brooklyn, and Flatlands, to pre- 
pare timber and materials to build a church at Flatbush — which was 
the county town. On the 6th of August, 1655, the scout (Sheriff) 
was ordered to convene the inhabitants of the county, for the purpose 
of ascertaining whether they would approve of the Eev. Johannis 
Polhemus as their minister, and what salary they would paj r him. It 
appears that the people approved of Mr. Polhemus, and agreed to pay 
him one thousand and forty guilders ($416) per year. The churches 
of Flatbush, Brooklyn, and Flatlands were known as collegiate 
churches — the appointed minister making a circuit of them from Sab- 
bath to Sabbath. In 1785 the Dutch church at Gravesend became 
one of the collegiate churches. The union of the churches termina- 
ted in 1787 by the Flatbush church calling a minister of their own. 



313 



REV. JOSEPH KIMBALL. D. D. 

Brooklyn certainly had a church edifice before the first church was 
built at Flatbush, and probably a parsonage also, but where they 
were situated is unknown. The first church of which there is a dis- 
tinct record was built in 1666, on the public road, and rebuilt in 1766. 
The site was adjacent to the present location of the edifice of the first 
Church on Joralemon street. There were no other churches in the 
county of Kings than the Eeformed Dutch churches before the year 
1785. In that year a dissenting Episcopal clergyman gathered a few 
hearers, which subsequently formed the nucleus of the first Episcopal 
congregation in Brooklyn. The Dutch churches supported all the 
poor of the county until the year 1784. The English governors were 
not favorably disposed toward either the Dutch churches or people. 
In 1694, Governor Fletcher attempted to throw the support of the 
Episcopal church upon the whole colony, but the House of Assembly 
refused to concur with him, which offended bis excellency. Lord 
Corn bury became governor in 1702. He was the vilest governor who 
ever ruled in America ; a church robber, and a persecutor of the Dutch 
the Presbyterians, and the French colonists. Among his infamous 
proceedings was the imprisonment of the Presbyterian ministers who 
attempted to preach in the city of JSTew York without his license, and 
the denouncing of the Dutch for offering these men the use of their 
church. 

The First congregation was largely made up of the old Dutch fam- 
ilies of Long Island, and for many years sheds were provided for 
those who came a long distance with their carriages. All the fine 
church buildings now in the vicinity, and, in fact, all the city improve- 
ments of that busy and elegant portion of the city, have risen in the 
fields with which the First church was for so long a period surrounded. 
The congregation for many years was in charge of the late esteemed 
Eev. Dr. Dwight. In 1860, Eev. Dr. A. A. Willets, of Philadelphia, 
was called, who remained several years, and was succeeded, after an 
interval of about six months, by Eev. Dr. Kimball. 

Dr. Kimball received his degree of D. D. from Eutgers College, at 
New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1866. His publications consist of 
various occasional sermons. 

Dr. Kimball is about of the medium height and equally propor- 
tioned. He goes with active, quick steps, and whatever he does is 
done rather impulsively. His head is of the average size, with regu- 
lar features, which show him to be a person of very amiable charac- 
teristics. His complexion is fair, with luminous eyes, which impart 

314 



REV. JOSEPH KIMBALL, D. D. 

their bright beams to his whole countenance. While he is not with- 
out dignity, he is so affable and courteous that it places no reserve 
upon the intercourse of any one with him. His taste and disposition 
in all things lead him to prefer simplicity and frankness of character, 
and he exemplifies them in his conduct on all occasions. 

Dr. Kimball's sermons are beautiful compositions, and while they 
do not lack in scholarship, this is not their distinguishing excellence. 
Their great peculiarity is the strong and cheerful religious faith with 
which they abound, and the affecting pathos with which the appeal 
is made to the feelings. He touches the springs of the heart's emo- 
tions as delicately, while as potently, as ever an enchanter touched 
with his wand, and he draws them forth in overwhelming floods. His 
power is in a soft musical voice, in his happy selection of language, 
and in his knowledge of the human character and heart. 

There is genuine refreshment for mind and heart in the sermons of 
Dr. Kimball. You are not startled by those intellectual thunderings 
which characterized the sensational pulpit orators, nor are you fascin- 
ated by the flowery imageiy of the sentimental preachers, but you 
are interested by the forcible statement of serious truths, and charmed 
and melted by the affectionate and appropriate language which is 
employed. The most sluggish mind awakens and expands under 
such teachings, and the heart, be it of stone, softens and yearns for 
better things under such appeals. Nothing that is said appears to be 
intended for profundity, or even eloquence, but it seems like words 
in good season spoken by a competent and friendly counselor. There 
is a pathetic style of preaching which has no pretension whatever to 
either learning or logic. Dr. Kimball's style differs entirely from 
this, for, while it is tender and full of emotional passages, it is alto- 
gether powerful in thought He speaks as a scholar and thorough 
student of the Scriptures, and at the same time with a heart overflow- 
ing with tenderness. 

Dr. Kimball is always to be found treading quietly and faithfully 
in the paths of pastoral duty, rather than seeking public notice. He 
has attained a high rank in the Presbyterian and Eeformed denom- 
inations for his talents, and he has now the first place in public re- 
gard; but all this has been quite unsought by him, for his incessant 
energies have been devoted to the practical work of the ministry and 
not at all to schemes of ambition. He is unselfish and unthinking of 
fame ; but his noble and consistent action in all spheres of duty hag 
oaturally given him great social and public influence. 

315 



REV. G. FREDERICK KROTEL, D. D M 

PASTOR OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH OF" THE 
HOJLY TRINITY, NEW YORK:. 




EV. DR. G. FREDERICK KROTEL was bom in the 
Kingdom of Wurtemburg, Germany, February 4th, 
1826. His parents emigrated to this country when he 
was four years of age, and took up their abode in Phila- 
delphia, where he passed most of his life. He was graduated 
at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in 1846, and 
pursued a private theological course under the Rev. Dr. Denne. 
He entered the ministry in 1848, in connection with the Lutheran 
Synod of Pennsylvania, and was installed over a small congregation 
in the suburbs of Philadelphia, where he remained one year. He 
next went to Lebanon, Pennsylvania, to the Salem Church, where he 
officiated until 1853. After this he went to Trinity Church, Lan- 
caster, where he labored until the close of 1861, when he accepted a 
call to St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia. In April, 1868, he com- 
menced his duties as pastor of his present congregation, the Evan- 
gelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity. 

This congregation is a new Lutheran organization, which was 
founded by Dr. Krotel at the period named. It grew out of the 
different Lutheran congregations then in existence in New York, and 
mainly out of St. James' Lutheran church. All the Lutheran con- 
gregations in this city, except Holy Trinity and St. James' are Ger- 
man, and the preaching is in that language. St. James' Church is 
on the east side of the city, and it was thought necessary to have an 
English Lutheran church on the west side, and in accordance with 
this view the church of the Holy Trinity was established. The 
church edifice occupied by the Reformed congregation under the care 
of Rev. Dr. Alexander R. Thompson, in Twentieth street, near Sixth 
avenue, was leased for one year, and regular services commenced. 
The congregation purchased this church for about sixty thousand 
dollars. The church began with eighty members, and there has been 

316 



REV. a. FREDERICK KROTEL, D. D. 

a satisfactory increase. The Sunday school has two hundred 
scholars. 

Dr. Krotel received his degree of D. D. from the University of 
Pennsylvania about 1865. He is the author of a translation of the 
''Life of Philip Melancthon ;" of a volume on the " Beatitudes," and 
other smaller works. 

He is slightly under the medium height, with a compact, well- 
proportioned figure. His head is of more thau the average size, with 
large features. His complexion is light, with an inclination to sallow- 
ness. He has a prominent brow, clear intelligent eyes, and altogether 
one of those calm good faces which win regard. While his manners 
show a great deal of modesty, he is a man who maintains himself 
with dignity and propriety on all occasions. He is courteous, and 
has that fluent and happy power of conversation which renders him 
a most agreeable social companion. His mind is of the serious re- 
flective kind, and he is always much absorbed in his studies; but at 
the same time there are few men who have more cheerfulness and 
geniality in personal intercourse. There is an invariable warmth in 
his greeting with all persons, and his friendship is tender and lasting. 

Dr. Krotel is a very sedate, serious kind of preacher. It has 
never been the practice of his denomination to encourage or tolerate 
anything else. They go to their churches to worship, and not merely 
to " assist " at an ostentatious display of pulpit oratory. Their 
pastors are never vain persons, seeking the ends of personal ambition, 
but godly men, preaching Christ and Him crucified. 

Dr. Krotel expounds the Scriptures with a thoroughness of learn- 
ing, and a keen and logical style of argument, which arrest undivided 
attention. His language is very plain and matter-of-fact, but it is 
completely to the point and full of force. His arguments cover the 
whole ground, and they are not only learned, but clear and fair ex- 
planations of the subject. He affords instruction at the same time 
that he touches the tender emotions and spurs the mind and heart to 
heavenly aspirations. In a word, he is a sound, reliable, pious man, 
who bends the whole energies of his nature and talents to the salva- 
tion of mankind. 

Dr. Krotel considers the national distinctions, especially in regard 
to the preaching in the German language, which have prevailed in 
the Lutheran Church in the United States, as a fatal obstacle to its 
progress among the masses. Hence he is directing his labors to the 
removal of these barriers. He seeks to draw into his new organiza- 

317 



EEV. G. FREDERICK KROTEL, D. D. 

tion not particularly the German, or the men or women of any par- 
ticular nationality, but all who are willing to accept the principles 
of faith of the Reformed church. It irust not be supposed that his 
effort to Anglicize the Lutheran Church is willingly acquiesced in by 
all its preachers and people. On the contrary, it is strenuously re- 
sisted in manjr quarters by those who cling to the language of the 
fatherland. 

Dr. Krotel has every requisite in talents and energy for his work. 
In the pulpit and out of it he has those characteristics which are 
always effective agents in securing popular favor. He is able uot 
only to declaim but to teach ; and in all his personal relations be is 
one who practices his own precepts. His religious duties, and the 
welfare of those committed to his spiritual charge, form the chief 
subject of his thoughts. He is consistent, pious, and faithful, and is 
not less a guide to the people than an example to his professional 
brethren. 

318 



REV. FRANCIS E. LAWRENCE, D. D., 

KECTOH OF THE CHUKCH OE THE HOEY 
COMMUNION, (EPISCOPAL), new yokk. 




EV. DR. FRANCIS E. LAWRENCE was born in the 
village of Flushing, Long Island, May 12th, 1827. He 
was graduated at St. Pauls College, at that place, in 
1818, and at the Episcopal General Theological Semin- 
New York, in 1852. He was made a deacon of the Epis- 
copal Church at the Church of the Annunciation, New York, 
by Bishop Chase, of New Hampshire, in the same year, and priest at 
Trinity Church, by Bishop Wainright, in 1853. At the close of his 
seminary course he became assistant of Dr. William A. Muhlenberg, 
at the Church of the Holy Communion, afterward associate rector, 
and on the retirement of Dr. Muhlenberg, in 1859, sole rector of the 
parish, and is still in charge. He received his degree of D. D. from 
Trinity College, in 1869. 

The Free Church of the Holy Communion was founded by Dr. 
Muhlenberg in 1846. The buildings were erected by Mrs. A. C. 
Rogers, a sister of Dr. Muhlenberg, as a memorial of her deceased 
husband. The church was consecrated in December, 1846, by Bishop 
Ives, then of North Carolina, but later a proselyte to the Catholic 
faith. The site, on the corner of Sixth avenue and Twentieth street, 
is one of the most eligible in the city, and the whole property is now 
valued at almost eighty thousand dollars. Adjoining the church on 
Sixth avenue an edifice was erected by the liberality of John H. 
Swift, Esq., which is occupied as a free school for the poor of the 
church, and is under the charge of an Episcopal sisterhood, known as 
the "Sisters of the Holy Communion." This sisterhood was founded 
by Dr. Muhlenberg, and now consists of some twelve persons. They 
have also charge of St. Luke's Hospital, of which Dr. Muhlenberg is 
the superintendent and pastor. The church of the Holy Communion 
has about four hundred and fifty communicants, and the Sunday 
School has three hundred and fifty children. The day school has 

319 



REV. FRANCIS E. LAWRENCE, D. D. 

sixty children. Two religious services are held daily, and the com- 
munion is administered weekly. The parish is large, and is in a most 
prosperous condition. 

Dr. Lawrence is under the medium height, well proportioned, and 
an active, energetic sort of person. He has a round head, sandy 
complexion, and a countenance which betokens intelligence and am- 
iable qualities of character. His manners are entirely plain and un- 
assuming, while characterized by a great deal of courtesy and kind- 
ness. 

He has been brought up in a strict school of religious discipline, 
as & protege of the venerable and pious Muhlenberg. Devoting him- 
self to the church has been to abandon the world. With him, his 
induction into the holy offices of the church was that he should yield 
himself wholly to spiritual duties. He is a priest of the Most High, 
and always engaged in labors which belong to his spiritual position. 
His church is open twice every day, and he stands at its altar dis- 
pensing the word of the Lord. Works of daily charity, efforts in the 
cause of education and in the propagation of the faith of his church, 
are the duties to which he esteems himself called. He has no com- 
mission to meddle in secular matters, to expound on politics, or at- 
tack public measures or men. He might make a great deal more 
noise in the world, as others have done, if he changed his attitude in 
these particulars, but he will not do it. He will not do it, because 
he belongs, like his illustrious guide and example in the priesthood, 
to those who discipline themselves to the spiritual life as the only one 
proper in the clergyman. 

Dr. Lawrence is a very good speaker, but not in any sense a showy 
one. He makes everything clear to the hearer. He argues his case 
closely, and at all times there is the most complete evidence of sin- 
cerity and a devout appreciation of his holy theme. He does not 
present himself as an orator, and he avoids every word, attitude, and 
gesture which can give any especial prominence to himself in the 
mind of the listener. Here again he shows how fully he has given 
himself to the spiritual character. His part in all the services of the 
sanctuary is performed as a priest, inspired in and by the discharge 
of holy functions. He not only feels his responsibility, but the 
sacred dignity of the position. He shows that he considers the altar 
and the pulpit a more sacred place than the usual haunts of men, and 
he leads in the worship of fallen mortals offered to a forbearing 
God. It is not an easv task to describe this condition of mind or of 

320 



REV. FRANCIS E. LAWRENCE, D. D. 

scene. It is a matter which appeals more especially to the personal 
emotions. Hence, when you go to the Church of the Holy Com- 
munion you are likely to feel the wonderful impressiveness of this 
clergyman, who officiates with such a perfect understanding of the 
proprieties and dignity of religious services. 

With his parishioners Dr. Lawrence is a most popular man. He 
is regarded as theii friend and spiritual guide, with that trustfulness 
which is founded in mutual love. He has a vast experience in the 
qualities of the human heart, and he seldom fails in adopting the 
best mode to secure the respect and confidence of those with whom 
he comes in contact. With children he is equally successful ; indeed, 
with these, his amiable, cheerful traits win from them the most ardent 
response to his own friendship and love. 

It is pleasant to turn to one who is so pre-eminently the humble- 
minded Christian in all his walks. Fame may not elevate him so 
speedily — and perhaps not at all — to one of her niches ; but he will 
always have the respect of the right-thinking and the inestimable re- 
ward of his own conscience. 

321 



RIGHT REV. A. N. LITTLEJOHN, D.D., 

BISHOP OF THE DIOCESE OF LONG ISLAND. 




LCHT REV. A. N. LITTLE JOHN, D. D.. Bishop 
of the Diocese of Long Island, was born in Mont- 
gomery County, New York, December 13th. 1824. 
jm£ He was graduated at Union College in 1845, and. was 
ordained, a Deacon of the Episcopal Church March 18th, 
1848. He officiated, at St. Ann's Church, Amsterdam, 
New York, and at St. Andrew's Church, Meriden, Connec- 
ticut, for a period of nearly two years, and was ordained to the 
priesthood in November, 1850, soon after entering upon the rector- 
ship of Christ Church, Spriugfield, Massachusetts. After a ministry 
there of a little more than one year, he was called to St. Paul's 
Church, New Haven ; and thence, after a service of nine years, to 
the rectorship of the Church of the Holy Trinity, corner of Clinton 
and Montague streets, Brooklyn. This is one of the largest and 
most important parishes of that city. Through the efforts of Dr. 
Littlejohn, a large amount of money was raised toward paying the 
debt of the Church. The contributions during the year 1863 were 
nearly twenty-seven thousand dollars. In January of the same year 
over twenty thousand dollars were laid upon the altar at one time 
for the reduction of the debt. 

After a highly popular ministry of about eight years in this parish, 
Dr. Littlejohn was elected Bishop of the newly created diocese of 
Long Island. His consecration took place at the Church of the 
Holy Trinity, January 27th, 1869. 

He is recognized as most efficient in the discharge of his duties 
and is justly admired and beloved throughout his diocese. The 
Episcopalians of Long Island Diocese report sixty-five resident 
ministers, eighty-two churches, 10,519 communicants, and 1,502 Sun- 
day-school teachers and 7,000 scholars. 

In 1854, Dr. Littlejohn delivered, in Philadelphia, the first 
of a seiies of discourses by various bishops and clergymen on the 

322 



A. N. LITTLE JOHN D. D. 

"Evidences of Christianity." The series was subsequently pub- 
lished, with an able introduction by Bishop Potter, of Pennsyl- 
vania. Dr. Littlejohn's sermon was recognized as pre-eminently pow- 
erful in thought and logic, and obtained for him the degree of D. D. 
from ' the University of Pennsylvania, in 1856. For several 
years he performed the duties of lecturer on "Pastoral Theol- 
ogy " at the Berkely Divinity School, Middletown, Conn. He is 
prominently connected with the management of the Home Missions of 
the Episcopal Church. During his last rectorship he became a director 
of the "Society for the Increase of the Ministry," a member of the Ex- 
ecutive Committee of the " Sunday School Union and Church Book 
Society," and president of the " Home of the Aged and Orphans on 
the Church Charity Foundation." He was for many years a contrib- 
utor to the "American Quarterly Church Eeview." Among the 
articles most favorably known to the public are reviews of Sir James 
Stephens' "Lectures on the History of France," Cousin's "History 
of Modern Philosophy," the "Character and Writings of Coleridge," 
the " Poems of George Herbert," and Miss Beecher's " Bible and 
the People." He has likewise published many sermons. 

We make the following eloquent selection from a sermon preached 
by Dr. Littlejohn, before the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal 
Church of the Diocese of Connecticut, June 12th, 1855 : 

" To ascertain -whether the preaching of to-day be what it might and ought to 
be, it is not needful to compare it -with the preaching of other periods. Among the 
various forms through which it passed before, and through which it has passed since 
the Keformation, it may be better than some and worse than others. It may be 
better than the preaching of Origen, vitiated by allegories, or that of Nazianzen, 
overladen with affectations of rhetoric. It may be inferior, again, to the preaching 
of St. Basil and St. Chrysostom, whose fervid grandeur, impetuous energy, and 
scriptural simplicity redeemed the weakness of a preceding age, and made Con- 
stantinople and Antioch the classic grounds of Christian eloquence. It may be 
better than the mediaeval church, when with worship, doctrine, discipline, and 
priesthood, it suffered a common petrifaction. On the other Land, it may be worse, 
less bold, less trenchant, less a medium and a result of God's word, than the style 
of those standard-bearers of a newly reformed church, who were summoned from 
the silence of the altar and th e constraints of an intricate ritualism, to participate 
in the excitements of free discussion and pulpit address. So, too, it may be inferior 
in wealth of erudition and elaborateness of finish to the preaching of the illustrious 
divines of the seventeenth century, while it is greatly in advance, in every essen- 
tial regard, of that which prevailed in the eighteenth, when, but too genirally, the 
prophets, evangelists, and apostles gave way to Tully, Epictetus, and Plato. 

"Let such comparisons result as they may ; let us stand where we will in refer- 
ence to the styles and methods of by-gone ages ; it is agreed on all sides that the 
preaching of to-day does not adequately meet the exigencies of the time. It is 

323 



A. N. LITTLEJOHN D. D. 

agreed that it does not speak with the authority, miction, and power to be expected 
from so divine a gift that, instead of ruling, it is ruled by the dominant tendencies 
of the secular thought ; that it fails to echo the virtues and inspirations of the word 
of God ; that it is neither great as an exhibition of Christian intellect, nor earnest 
as an organ of Christian spirituality; that men smile when it thuuders, and sleep when 
it persuades ; that it addresses more Felixes who yawn than Felixes who tremble. 
And yet it is equally agreed by all fair observers that it is not lacking in many of 
the higher sources of influence — as sprightliness, culture, versatility, and occasional 
eloquence. Nor is it considered wanting in learning, in knowledge of the Gospel 
theory, or of human nature, nor in ready command of the fruits and appliances of 
intellectual activity. Nor, again, so far as the church pulpit is concerned, can it be 
urged as a cause of the present debility and stagnation, that it has forsaken its 
legitimate topics for the curious novelties of the hour, or has condescended to 
humor the caprices of the fickle multitude. 

"Where, then, is this defect ? Where is the seat of the paralysis of so mighty a 
gift? What is needed to redeem it from this pious weakness and decent mediocrity ? 
How shall it regain its lost dominion over the sources of public sentiment, and 
inspire the world with a due reverence for its claims as one of the instrumentalities 
of God for the redemption of man ? Brethren, we who have been ordained to this 
holy function, there is but one way back to the heights of power, and we must each, 
in our places, begin to travel it. We must look anew into our commission. With 
purged sight, let us try to see in it the very handwriting of the church's Head, and 
the baptism of the Pentecostal fire ; let us lay hold upon the gift as it is rooted in 
the grace and sanctum of the living God ; let us use it as a thing fed by the eternal 
Spirit, and as a constituted part of a supernatural order ; let us grasp it in its 
spiritual aspects, and on the side lying next the unseen world. Spiritual in its 
origin, spiritual in its nature, spiritual in its object, preaching, to the great, must 
be the work of the spiritual mind. A profound spirituality of private experience, 
an experience of the death that is in us, and the life that is in Christ — a trial of the 
griefs and joys, the pains and consolations springing from the conflict of the death 
of nature and the life of grace : it is this that conditions and measures the power of 
preaching. It was this that made Paul, in spite of slowness of speech and mean- 
ness of stature, the mightiest of Christian orators. It was this likeness unto the 
ministry of his Master, this actual bearing about within his soul of the blood and 
the agony of Calvary, and the glory and the triumph of the risen Jesus that silenced 
Athens, Ephesus, and Corinth, when presuming to compare him with some inferior 
name." 

Dr. Littlejohn is above the medium height, with a well-formed, 
stately person. His head is large, the face is wide, and the features 
are molded into marked expressiveness, though they lack in regu- 
larity. The mouth, for instance, is disproportionately large, while 
the prominent, curved under lip gives a scornful expression to the 
countenance. His hair, which is of a light color, is worn combed 
behind the ears ; and the broad, high, strikingly intellectual fore 
head is presented in uninterrupted view. Here the eye of the 
observer lingers pleasantly, for the characteristics are those of the 
most exalted degree of mental power. The severity and scornful- 

324 



A. N. LITTLEJOHN D. D. 

ness of the lower portion of the face here melts into the light and 
beauty of intellectuality, speaking especially in the full, clear eyes. 
With considerable reserve of manners, he has so much high-toned, 
thoughtful courtesy, and is such an agreeable conversationalist that 
intercourse with him is not less unrestrained than pleasant. He never 
himself loses sight of his reverend character, nor will he suifer you 
to do so, but his inclination to sociableness is quite evident. His 
deportment, in all respects, is that most becoming to one holding a 
religious and scholarly position like his own, and, with his language, 
is at once an example and an incentive to all with whom he comes 
in contact. 

Dr. Littlejohn is one of the ablest preachers in the Episcopal 
pulpit. His sermons are thorough in the masterly exposition of the 
theme, and equally able in polish and effectiveness of diction. There 
is no stiltedness and no hesitancy in the argument ; no dimness and 
no mystification in the expressions ; all stand out powerful and 
manifest, convincing and brilliant. On subjects of learned research, 
on points of church doctrine, and in moral discussions, he shows 
equal ability, and reaches the convictions of his hearers by the one 
road of intelligent, eloquent reasoning. His style of delivery is 
subdued, and exceedingly well disciplined. His words, rather than 
himself, are impassioned. Whatever strength his thoughts may gain 
from their mode of delivery, it never arises from anything like 
excitement in himself, but altogether from a distinct, firm voice, and 
a manner which is almost that of authority. His sentences rise into 
the grander conception of logic, and they grow touching with pious 
seriousness ; he startles the minds and stirs the hearts of others ; but 
he remains calm and emotionless himself. In fact, he belongs to 
that school of preachers who have an ever present consciousness of 
the responsible position in which their sacred calling has placed 
them, and who appeal to reason, and through it to feeling. They 
stand in the pulpit clothed with all dignity, and their eloquence con- 
sists in the graces of scholarship, and not in boisterous declamation. 
Pre-eminent among this learned and honored class, Dr. Littlejohn 
has his appropriate place. Avoiding every tendency to render the 
preacher conspicuous, he only seeks to make the sermon a fitting 
part of man's intelligent worship in the house of the ever-living 
God. 

^25 



REV. ROBERT LOWRY, 

LATE PASTOR OF THE HANSON PLACE BAP- 
TIST CHURCH, BROOKLYN. 




i EV. EOBEET LOWRY was born in Philadelphia, March 
26th, 1826. After a course of earlier instruction in his 
native city, he entered the University of Pennsylvania, 
where he was graduated, subsequently perfecting his theo- 
logical investigations by the use of a series of lectures, deliv- 
H2 ered at Newton Theological Seminary. He graduated with 
the highest honors of the University, delivering the valedictory 
address. "While at the University he conducted a protracted meeting 
at a place in the vicinity, which ultimately led to the founding of a 
church, of which he took charge until his graduation. He was 
ordained in 1854, and at once settled over the First Baptist Church, 
West Chester, Pennsylvania, where he remained about four years. 
He next became pastor of the Bloomingdale Baptist Church, ISTew 
York city, and in May, 1861, commenced pastoral relations with the 
Hanson Place Baptist Church, Brooklyn. Mr. Lowry has published va- 
rious sermons and addresses, and a number of hymns and songs. His 
poetical compositions are to be found in the "Athenaeum Collection," 
"Sunday School Bell," "Children's Choir," "Young Reaper," a 
Sunday school periodical, and some in sheet music. The hymns are 
chiefly for Sunday school services, and in many instances Mr. Lowry 
is the composer of the music as well as the author of the words. 
During the Presidential campaign of 1856 he edited a Republican 
paper, called the Independent, at West Chester. 

After a ministry of some years at Hanson Place Church, Mr. 
Lowry became Professor of Rhetoric in the University at Lewisburg, 
Pa., where he still remains. He is also pastor of the Baptist church 
there. 

326 



REV. ROBERT LOWET. 

Mr. Lowry is slightly above the medium height, with a fairly 
proportioned figure. His head is of the long kind, physically speak- 
ing, with the face well filled out, healthful looking, and moderately 
intellectual. He has quiet, pleasant eyes, and generally an amiable, 
attractive countenance. In his manners he is unrestrained and 
cordial. To the casual observer he looks like an easy-going, tract- 
able, impressible character, but really is exactly the reverse. He is 
a man of strong, impassioned convictions, and you have only to 
touch the spring of feeling, when your lamb is transformed into a 
lion. That which he believes, he believes with the strength of his 
whole nature, and that which he hates, he hates with the bitterness 
of abhorrence and rage. He is most sensitive to all that effects these 
opinions. His heart is often on fire when his lips move not, and he 
turns from those who have no sympathy with him only to renew the 
vow of his own steadfastness. The depth of his feelings, the warmth 
of his eulogy, and the intensity of his denunciation are best seen in 
his writings. Here the heart seems to break forth in unchecked 
out-pourings, and its agitation and surgings are shown in words of 
great earnestness. He writes with a self-evident purpose, and effect- 
ually to the point, and his pen is not only fluent, but he has command 
of that kind of sledge-hammer language which is very apt to crumble 
opposite theories into powder. He always exhibits much com- 
prehensiveness in regard to the subject of his disquisitions, argues 
his own side in a terse, epigrammatic, eloquent way, and. assaults the 
other with sneers, sarcasm, and blunt, bitter epithet. His ordinary 
sermons have not the power of his occasional sermons and addresses. 
The former are delivered extempore, from brief notes, while the latter 
are more thoughtful, scholarly productions. He speaks with con- 
siderable fluency, but with much less than he exercises in writing, 
and there is wanting that graphicness and vigor which impart so 
much to the interest of his literary efforts. As a preacher, he is 
effective, without being brilliant, while in his writings he may justly 
be regarded as both. He has an agreeable voice, and at times be- 
comes quite animated, generally closing his sermons with some mov- 
ing appeal. 327 



REY. JAMES M. LUDLOW, D.D., 

OXE OF THE PASTORS OF THE COLLEGIATE 
REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH, NEW YORK!. 




'EV. DR. JAMES M. LUDLOW was born at Elizabeth, 
New Jersey, March 15th, 1841. His early studies were 
in different schools of Elizabeth. He was graduated at 
Princeton College, in 1861, and at the Theological Semin- 
ary in 1864. He was licensed as a Presbyterian minister, April 
21st, 1863, by the Old SchooS Presbytery, of Passaic, New 
Jersey. From May until October, 1864, he officiated as assistant to 
the Eev. Dr. Magee, pastor of the Second Presbyterian church of 
Elizabeth. In the autumn of this year he accepted a call to the First 
Presbyterian church of Albany, where he was ordained and installed 
July 19th, 1S65. He remained in this work about four years, when 
he felt it his duty to accept a call to the junior pastorship of the Col- 
legiate Eeformed (Dutch) Church, New York, which had been left 
vacant by the resignation of the talented and distinguished Rev. Dr. 
Joseph T. Duryea. He accepted the position in New York in No- 
vember, 1868, and on the last Sunday in December, 1868, he was in- 
stalled as one of the ministers of the Collegiate Church, holding 
special relations as pastor to the congregation worshiping in Fifth 
avenue, corner of Forty-eighth street. He received the degree of 
D. D. from Williams College in 1872. 

The Collegiate Church in New York began its services in 1626, in 
the loft of a horse-mill. Subsequently, various wooden and stone 
edifices were erected in the lower part of the city, of which there 
are remaining at this time the building now used as the post-office, 
which was erected in 1729, and the " Old North, " on the corner of 
William and Fulton streets, which was erected in 1769. 

Another church is on the corner of Lafayette Place and Fourth 
street, and some years since a fine marble structure was erected on 
the corner of Fifth avenue and Twenty-ninth street. Before there 
was much improvement in upper Fifth avenue, the Collegiate Church 

328 



REV. JAMES M . LUDLOW, D. D. 

became the owner of the entire front of the westerly block bounded 
by Forty- -ighth and Forty -ninth streets, and two lots on Forty -eighth 
street. A few years since a mission chapel was erected on Forty- 
eighth street, which was soon attended by a large congregation. Half 
of the property on Fifth avenue was sold at a greatly increased price, 
so that the portion retained cost nothing. In May, 1869, the corner- 
stone for a magnificent brown-stone church was laid on this site, with 
imposing ceremonies, conducted by the Eev. Dr. De Witt. This 
building was dedicated in 1873, and is one of the most imposing church 
edifices in the city. It cost about four hundred thousand dollars. 
The principal spire is upward of 250 feet high, and another is 100 feet. 
There are about fifteen hundred children in the different Sunday 
schools maintained by the Collegiate Church. Beside these it sup- 
ports a large day school and various Industrial schools. The day 
school has been in existence since the year 1633, a period of two 
hundred and thirty-six years, when a schoolmaster came out from 
Holland to take charge of it. In 1786, the number of pupils was 
limited to twelve, but their number was gradually increased, until, 
in 1850, it had become one hundred and fifty. A restriction requir- 
ing the pupils to be those attending the Dutch Church has been re- 
moved, and it is now free to all. For more than a hundred years the 
school was kept at various places in the vicinity of Bowling 
Green. It is now held in a building in Twenty-ninth street, between 
Sixth and Seventh avenues. 

Dr. Ludlow is of about the medium height and erect. "While he 
does not look robust he has a great deal of vitality and energy, and 
both in study and labor can accomplish the utmost task. His feat- 
ures are regular and delicate. The upper portion of his head is full, 
with a noticeable intellectual devclopement, and all the characteristics 
of his face show natural refinement and amiability. Indeed his face ■ 
is very winning. It is pale and youthful, but it has a particular 
brightness and goodness about it which impress you. You see the 
keenest intellectual perception, firmness to principle, and sublime 
moral courage. The soft sympathetic eyes and the meek expression 
tell much of his character, but not the whole of it, for the same eyes 
kindle into resolution, and the same expression grows into one of 
self-reliance and force, when principles are to be defended, and a 
moral example maintained. If gentleness and modesty are to be 
found so vivid in his countenance, it is truth, and courage for it, 
which are strong in his soul, and these are undoubtedly the forces 

329 



REV. JAMES M. LUDLOW, D. D. 

which govern his life. His manners are quiet, affable, and polished. 
He meets you with a winning smile, a warm pressure of the hand, 
and pleasant words. With a stranger or an intimate friend it is all 
the same. There is no restraint, no formality, and no assumption. 
He converses fluently and well, and with such cheerfulness and ani- 
mation, and with an observation so extended and accurate, that he is 
always entertaining. 

As a preacher, Dr. Ludlow fully meets the standard required in 
the Eeformed denomination. They require ability in scholarship 
and soundness in doctrine, with eloquence and power in the pulpit, 
without personal ostentation and sensationalism. For a man of his 
years, he is an excellent scholar, and time and experience will make 
him one of the most learned and comprehensive theological minds of 
the church. He is animated by a high ambition and by the incentive 
of the distinguished position to which he has already attained. There 
can be no doubt either of his unwearying energy in the field of 
scholarship, or in the actual toil of daily ministerial duty. 

His sermons are excellent productions. In the first place, they are 
well-written, and, in the next, they show a reflection and logic which 
are very striking. There are composure and dignity in his delivery, 
but still warmth of feeling is always apparent in both words and 
actions. His voice is not powerful, but it is clear, and altogether 
under his command. 

Fidelity to his work, and success in it, have been characteristic of 
his ministry in all places. In the wide and important field in which 
he is now engaged, he will undoubtedly prove an instrumentality 
of great usefulness to his denomination and the community at large. 



330 



REY. JOHN P. LUNDY, D.D., 

RECTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY 

APOSTLES (EPISCOPAL), NEW YORK. 




)EV. DR. JOHN P. LTJNDY was born at Danville, Mon- 
tour county, Pennsylvania, February 3d, 1823. He was 
graduated at Princeton College in 1846, and then took a 
course of two years at the Theological Seminary of that 
ace. In 1849 he was ordained and installed as pastor of the 
Presbyterian church at Sing Sing, New York, where he re- 
mained until 1854. Having now determined to take holy orders in 
the Episcopal Church, he was made a deacon in the same year by 
Bishop Upfold, of Indiana, at Sing Sing, and October 28th, 1855, 
he was admitted to the priesthood at All Saints Church, Philadel- 
phia, by Bishop Alonzo Potter. He was rector of All Saints Church 
for almost three years, and then went to Emanuel Church, Holmes- 
burg, where he labored until 1863. From 1863 to 1867 he was in 
Philadelphia, and passed a year each at St. Mark's and St. Stephen's 
Churches. After this he was rector one year of a church at Read- 
ing, Pennsylvania, and was next called to the Church of the Holy 
Apostles, New York, where he commenced to officiate in April, 
1869. 

A Sunday School, established in an upper room in West Twenty- 
Seventh street, was the origin of the Church of the Holy Apostles. 
The Rev. Dr. Robert S. Howland was called as the first rector in 
1847, when there were twenty communicants. A wealthy citizen, 
Robert Ray, Esq., made a donation of five lots on the corner of 
Ninth avenue and Twenty-eighth street, where a church edifice was 
erected. The consecration of the edifice took place in February, 
1847, and siibsequently it was twice enlarged to meet the increasing 
wants of the congregation. A Mission House for schools and benev- 
olent purposes was erected on a lot purchased at a cost of twelve 

331 



KEY. JOHN P. LUNDY, D. D. 

thousand dollars. In 1867 the entire property of the church was 
estimated to be worth at least seventy-five thousand dollars, and 
the only debt had been removed some years before. Dr. Rowland 
remained the rector until 1868. over twenty years, and gathered a 
large and powerful congregation. Under Dr. Lundy's ministrations 
the attendance continues numerous, and the whole work of the par- 
ish is carried on most enera;eticallv. 

During 1859 and 1860 Dr. Lundy visited Europe and the East, 
extending his travels to Greece, Egypt, Constantinople, and the Holy 
Land. In Rome he gave much attention to the study of the anti- 
quities in the Catacombs, and at other points engaged in the same 
investigations. The results are to be given in an elaborate work, 
with illustrations, which he has been preparing for some years under 
the title of "Ancient Christianity Illustrated by its Monuments." 
In the winter of 1872, and again in 1873, he delivered before his 
congregation an extensive series of lectures on the same subject. 
He received his degree of D. D. from Andalusia College, Pennsylva- 
nia, some years since. 

Dr. Lundy is of the medium height, with a full person, though 
he is not stout. His head is large, with regular and intelligent fea- 
tures. He has extremely social manners, and a hearty frankness of 
speech, which are always very much appreciated by all who come 
in contact with him. While a man of a great deal of strength of 
character, and of positive opiuions, he is so genial and friendly that 
this does not so much appear on first acquaintance. But those who 
become intimately acquainted with him, or have occasion to test his 
judgment and energy in action, find that he is clear in the one, and 
most active and resolute in the other. Hence he is a highly efficient 
pastor, fully understanding all his duties and. obligations, and having 
the full capacity and activity to meet all their requirements. He is 
a preacher of pleasing characteristics. He carefully avoids all dis- 
play in matter and manner, but at the same time uses such com- 
prehensive and eloquent language that he receives the undivided 
attention of his audience. Seeking to do his work in the ministry 
faithfully and successfully, its results have been of a nature to give 
prosperity to the church, and crown him with honor. 

332 









REY. ALBERT J. LYMAN, 

PASTOR OF THE SOUTH CONGHEGATIONAL, 
CHURCH, BROOKLYN. 




EY. ALBEET J. LYMAN is the son of Josiah Lyman, 
a professor of mechanics and civil engineer, and was 
born at Williston, Yermont, December 24th, 1845. It 
is proper to state that Mr. Lyman was born during the 
temporary sojourn of his parents in Yermont, they hav- 
^2 i n g come from Massachusetts, where he was soon taken, and 
passed all his earlier life. He was prepared for college at the 
Seminary at East Hampton, Massachusetts, and subsequently pur- 
sued his studies in Chicago, New York City, and at Yale College, New 
Haven. In 1868 he was graduated at the Union Theological Sem- 
inary, New York, and was licensed in the ministry by the South 
Berkshire Congregational Association. His first settlement was as 
pastor of the Congregational Church at Milford, Connecticut, in 
1870, where he remained until November, 1873, having accepted a 
call to the South Congregational Church, Brooklyn, where he be- 
came pastor January 1st, 1874. 

In 1851 an edifice, for a lecture-room, Sunday School-room, and 
pastor's study, was erected on a portion of several lots at the corner 
of Court and President streets, Brooklyn, and, in February of the 
same year, was opened for public worship. On the 31st of March 
the South Congregational Church was organized, over which the 
Rev. William Marsh became settled. The Rev. Daniel March was 
called in 1854, and he was succeeded by the Rev. Rufus W. Clark 
in 1857. Mr. Clark was installed in a large new church edifice, 
which had been erected on the corner of Court and President streets, 
fronting on the former street. The structure is of fine brick, with 
stone trimmings, and, occupying an elevated position, its grace- 
ful spire towers above every other. The church portion will seat 

3o3 



REV. ALBERT J. LYMAN. 

nine hundred persons, and is fitted with admirable taste, and the 
arrangement of the lecture-room, Sunday School-room, and pastor's 
study is one of much convenieuce. At one period twenty-five 
thousand dollars were expended in alterations of the church build- 
ing. On the 4th of December, 1863, a call was extended to the Eev. 
Edward Taylor, then of Kalamazoo, Michigan, which he accepted, 
and labored with the congregation for several years. The Eev. Mr. 
Storrs was the next pastor, who resigned after some length of time, 
and this vacancy was filled by the acceptance of a call by Mr. Ly- 
man. 

In appearance Mr. Lyman is tall and erect, with a head of con- 
siderable size, and a pleasant, cheerful-looking face. His manners 
are cordial, and in some respects peculiar. He does not regard any 
professional conventionalities, but has an impulsiveness and freedom 
of action which are original to himself. In his conversation he is 
the same, showing an inclination for humor and a style of language, 
which rather border on the excentric than otherwise. Of his sin- 
cerity, of his sympathy with all that is noble and good, and of his 
desire to pass for simply a plain young minister, but one seeking to 
do a faithful part in life, — of all these there cannot be the slightest 
doubt in the mind of any person who comes in contact .with him. 
In the pulpit he is also original and peculiar. He arrests the un- 
divided attention of an audience, and is alike argumentative and 
pathetic. The whole work of the ministry in his hands is efficiently 
discharged, and his influence is constantly extending. 

334 



REV. ROBERT STUART MacARTHUR, 

PASTOR OF CALVARY BA.PTI8T CHURCH, NEW 

YORK. 




EY. ROBERT STUART MacARTHUR was born at 
Dalesville, Quebec, Canada, July 31st, 1841. His parents 
emigrated from the Highlands of Scotland to Canada, and 
to this day speak the Gaelic language of their native sec- 
tion, as well as the English. While his father holds to 
the Presbyterian faith, bis mother and all the other members 
of the family are Baptists. He was converted at the age of 
thirteen, and joined the Baptist church at Dalesville. Three years 
later he removed to St. Andrews, Quebec, where he engaged in 
mercantile pursuits ; but at length felt called upon to preach. At 
eighteen he was in the habit of holding religious meetings in school- 
houses and private houses, where he addressed interested audiences. 
He then went to the Canadian Literary Institute at Woodstock, 
Ontario, Canada, where he passed nearly three years in preparation 
for college. He also distributed tracts, and held religious meetings. 
He entered the University at Rochester, New York, when he was 
graduated in 1867, taking during his course two of the highest piizes 
in the gift of the University. One of these was a Sophomore prize 
for declamation, and the other a gold medal for the best written and 
delivered oration at graduation. He was licensed to preach Septem- 
ber 25th, 1868. 

In 1870 he was graduated at the Theological Seminary at Ro- 
chester. While at the Seminary he preached every Sunday evening 
for a year and a half at the Lake Avenue Baptist chapel, where a large 
number of persons were converted. The movement led to the estab- 
lishment of a church, which is now numerous and flourishing. 

Later he preached as a supply in the village of Ganandaigua, N.Y.. 
and received calls to churches at Canandaigua, Titusville, Pa., and 

335 






BEV. ROBERT STUART MaCARTHUR. 

St. Louis, Mo. He finally accepted a call to the Calvary Baptis.. 
Church, in West Twenty-third street, New York, where he was in- 
stalled June 16th, 1870. 

This church was formerly known as the Broadway Baptist Church, 
and then, as Calvary church, grew to importance under the ministry 
of the Bev. Dr. A. D. Gillette, who was its pastor for a number of 
years. During the ministry of Mr. MacArthur the congregation has 
been much strengthened. Many conversions have taken place, and 
more than two hundred members have been added to the church. 

Mr. MacArthur is of the medium height, compactly made, erect, 
and active. His head is large and round, with intelligent and ex- 
pressive features. His appearance gives you the idea that in point 
of both the physical and mental powers, he is capable of all that he 
may undertake. He is composed and dignified in his manners ; at 
the same time that a natural geniality of spirits always asserts itself, 
and makes companionship with him exceedingly agreeable. A man 
of deep reflection in all things, and of well-balanced judgment, he 
has in his speech and action everything to show self-reliance and ex- 
perience on his own part, and also that which obtains the greatest in- 
fluence with others. Hence, in his private relations and as a public 
speaker, he exerts an influence of the most positive nature over 
individuals and the multitude. All who come in contact with 
him are impressed with his deeply religious character, and his earnest 
efforts to do good. 

He went into the ministry from no motive of ambition, but be- 
cause he felt called to it. His preparation was patient, thorough, and 
devout. It was not only to acquire that scholarly knowledge which 
was necessary for the expounding of the Scriptures, but it was to 
gain more and more the inestimable truths of his own faith, and the 
purity of the renewed heart. Girding himself to stretch out his aid 
to those struggling with sin, he was careful to see that he stood in no 
peril himself 

His preaching has the force mingled with tenderness always 
noticeable in a person of these characteristics. He is bold and pro- 
nounced in his opinions; he is animated and inspired in announcing 
the message of grace, and he is wonderfully and beautifully touching 
when he deals with the suffering spirit of his fellows. He has a good 
voice, and his whole manner in the pulpit is very attractive. It can- 
not be doubted that his career will redound to his own honor and the 
increase of the fold of Christ. 

33tj 





a, 






JOHN McCLOSKEY, D. D., 

A-RCHEISHOF OF UNTETV YOK. K, 




HE name of the Most Rev. Archbishop John Me- 
Closkey, D. D., is one revered and illustrious in the 
annals of the Roman Catholic Church of the United 
His entire life has been marked by gentle 
qualities of character, sincere piety, and great devotion 
to duty. Rising to his present exalted ecclesiastical posi- 
tion by the force of his talents and the significance of his 
virtues, as shown in every grade and labor of the priestly office, he 
has awakened the admiration of every sect and class, not less by 
the consistency than the modesty of his career. 

Most Rev. Dr. John MuCloskey, Archbishop of the Arch- 
Diocese of New York, was born in the City of Brooklyn, March 
20th, 1810, and is, therefore, sixty-one years old. Being a youth 
of more than ordinary promise, his mother, who became a widow 
when he was only ten years old. gave him a liberal education, 
and he finally prepared for the priesthood. He concluded his 
collegiate course at the institution of Mount St. Mary's, Emmets- 
burg, Md., in 1827, and pursued his first course of theology at the 
same place. He received the degree of A. M. about 1830. He 
was ordained Priest by Bishop Dubois, in January, 1834, at St. 
Patrick's Cathedral, New York, where he celebrated his first Mass; 
and in the following November, left for Rome, where he passed two 
years in the schools of the Roman College. On his return to New 
York, he was placed in charge ot St. Joseph's Church, where he 
remained for seven years, with the exception of nine months. Dur- 
ing this interval, he was President of St. John's College, Fordhara, 
N. Y., then just going into operation. He was consecrated Bishop 
of Axiere by Bishop Hughes, March 10th, 1844, and became Coad- 
jutor of the officiating prelate. 

337 



JOHN McCLOSKET, D. D. 

He had now reached, at thirty-four, a very prominent position 
in the Church. His superior, and all others associated with him 
in the religious work, were deeply impressed with his ability and 
zeal. In 1847, when the Diocese of Albany was established, he was 
transferred to that one. He found the diocese, which included all 
of the State of New York lying north of forty-two degrees north 
and east of the eastern line of Cayuga, Tompkins, and Tioga 
counties, very feeble, having only forty churches, some of them 
without clergymen. The Catholic population was scattered over a 
large territory, and was, for the most part, poor, and had to strug- 
gle against the prejudice of the surrounding people. 

Bishop McCloskey lost no time in pressing forward in the great 
task now before him. He made St. Mary's, one of the few Cath- 
olic churches of Albany, his Cathedral; but in July, 1848, laid the 
corner-stone for a new edifice. The large and fine structure, now 
known as the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, was com- 
pleted in the fall of 1853, at a cost, with the Episcopal residence, 
of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The year 1851 was 
marked by the opening of the Academy of St. Joseph, in Troy, 
under the care of the Christian Brothers, and the establishment of 
a hospital by the Sisters of Charity, which has, in a single year, 
received seven hundred and eighty-nine patients. In 1852, a Fe- 
male Seminary was founded in Albany, by a colony of Sisters of 
the Sacred Heart; and in 1855 an Academy for boys was opened 
at Utica at a cost of more than seventeen thousand dollars. 

His term of service in the Diocese of Albany extended over a 
period of seventeen years, and during the whole time his labors 
were characterized by unceasing earnestness, and everywhere crowned 
with more than the usual success. He left in the Diocese one hun- 
dred and thirteen churches, eight chapels, fifty-four minor stations, 
eighty-five missionaries, three academies for boys, and one for girls, 
six orphan asylums, and fifteen parochial schools. 

Bishop McCloskey was held very dearly by the late Archbishop 

Hughes; and from certain acts immediately before his death, and 

the testamentary papers which he left behind him, the inference 

was that he desired to be succeeded by his former Coadjutor. At 

all events, he was most favorably indicated for the position by the 

votes of his Episcopal brethren, and became the selection of the 

Pope. Before his departure from Albany, he was entertained by 

his clergy, when an address was presented to him, with gifts, pro- 
ses 



JOHN McCLOSKET, D. D. 

cured at an expense of four thousand dollars, consisting of his por- 
trait, and an Archepiscopal cross and ring. Says the address : 

" It is, Right Reverend Father, in the recollection of nearly all 
of us, that when you took possession of this See there were but few 
churches, and fewer priests. How great the change ! Ever since 
you have been all to us — our Bishop, our father, our counselor, our 
best friend ! Your noble Cathedral, with its surrounding religious 
and literary institutions; the grand and beautiful churches erected 
under your patronage, and with your assistance; the religious com- 
munities introduced and fostered by your care, and all now flour- 
ishing with academies and schools; your clergy, numbering nearly 
one hundred, and, by their union and zeal, reflecting some of your 
own spirit, — all tell of your Apostolic work here, and how difficult, 
it is for us to say — farewell." 

The Governor of the State and a number of the leading citizens 
of Albany invited the Bishop to a public dinner, which, however, 
his engagements would not allow him to accept. Says the letter 
of invitation : 

" Permit us to say that your residence of seventeen years with 
us has taught us to appreciate a character elevated by noble senti- 
ments, and inspired hy Christian charity. It is for others to bear 
witness to the resiilts of your Episcopal labors, the reflected light 
of which we see in the elevated condition of your people. It is for 
us to recognize the successful mission of one who has united in his 
person the character of a learned prelate and a Christian gentle- 
man, and whose influence in society has been exerted to soothe and 
tranquilize, to elevate and instruct." 

No higher or more beautiful tributes were ever paid to any 
individual in a like position. Touching and beautiful as were the 
sentiments conveyed, they were the expression of all classes of every 
faith in the diocese. 

The installation of Bishop McCloskey as the Archbishop of the 
Archdiocese of New York, took place on Sunday, August 21st, 
1864, at St. Patrick's Cathedral, his appointment bearing date of 
May, 1864, before a vast audience. There was one of the grandest 
Episcopal and sacerdotal processions ever seen in this country. 
Bishops of the Church were present from all parts of the State, and 
some from abroad. The Archbishop elect, escorted by two priests, 
walked under a canopy of elaborately-wurked satin and gold, and 
borne by four persons. When the Archbishop came in front of 

339 



JOHN McCLOSKEY, D. D. 

the altar lie knelt devoutly, and remained for some time in silent 
prayer. Being escorted to the throne in front of the rostrum, the 
Bishops present ascended the steps one by one, and, on presenting 
themselves to the Archbishop, he tenderly embraced them, imprint- 
ing the kiss of peace on their left cheek. The priests followed in 
like manner, one at a time, and kneeling at the feet of their supe- 
rior, respectfully kissed the signet-ring on his right hand. He 
received the crozier, tiara, and other paraphernalia of the Archie- 
piscopal office in front of the altar. The grand Pontifical High 
Mass set down for the day was then performed, and the Archbishop 
made a most eloquent address. 

The Archdiocese of New York comprises the City and County 
of New York, and the counties south of the forty-second degree of 
north latitude, except those on Long Island. The Roman Catholic 
Province of New York embraces the Dioceses of New York, Albany, 
Boston, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Rochester, Burlington, Hartford, Spring- 
field, Newark, and Portland, and includes the States of New York, 
New Jersey, and all New England. 

Archbishop McCloskey has now been in the Archdiocese seven 
years. Great success had previously followed the efforts of his 
gifted and energetic predecessor, but quite as much has resulted 
from his own. There has been an increase of twelve churches, and 
nearly one hundred priests. The Catholic population of the Arch- 
diocese is between five and six hundred thousand, and of this num- 
ber between four and five hundred thousand are in the City of New 
York. The following are the statistics of 1871: 



Churches 121 

Chapels 24 

Priests 229 

Theological Seminary 1 

Colleges 3 

Academies 12 

Select Schools 10 



Asylums 13 

Home for Aged Men 1 

Homes for Aged Women 2 

Hospitals 2 

Eeligious Communities for Men. . . 8 

Eeligious Communities for Women 12 

Ecclesiastical Students 58 



In about five years six hundred thousand dollars have been 
expended on the new Cathedral building in course of erection on 
Fifth avenue. One hundred thousand dollars had been previously 
expended, and one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash, 
recently subscribed, is now in the hands of the Archbishop for the 
work. At least two millions will be expended on the whole edifice. 
It will have ten or twelve chapels besides the main church, which 
is to accommodate ten thousand people. 

340 



JOHN McCLOSKEY, D. D. 

Archbishop McCloskey has made four visits to Rome, the last 
when in attendance at the Ecumenical Council, when he was nine 
months in that city. His labors in the Archdiocese are necessarily 
very great; and it is but an act of simple justice to say that the 
results thereof are proportionately beneficent. Exercising a most 
commanding influence in his extended and increasing field of effort, 
as well on account of his high official position as for his prominent 
qualities of head and heart, he has already accomplished an incal- 
culable amount of good, and gives promise of greater usefulness in 
the future. The Church in him finds a zealous and efficient leader, 
and American citizenship a most noble and honored exponent. He 
is one of that class of whom Addison says : " Those men only are 
truly great who place their ambition rather in acquiring to them- 
selves the conscience of worthy enterprises than in the prospect of 
glory which attends them. These exalted spirits would rather be 
secretly the authors of events which are serviceable to mankind, 
than, without being such, to have the public fame of it." 

He is above the medium height, sparely made, and erect. His 
head is of an intellectual cast, and his countenance, when increasing 
years are beginning to leave their unmistakable lines, is strongly 
expressive of amiability and benevolence. The features are finely 
moulded and uniform. About the mouth there is always an expres- 
sion of the truest kindness and gentleness, and the eyes are soft and 
sympathetic, while full of intellectuality. The brow is broad, over 
which the hair is parted, and carefully combed on either side. In 
any gathering of men he would be selected as a person distinguished 
for gifts of mind, and great goodness of heart. In his manners he 
is dignified, courteous, and kindly. A simple, easy dignity, natural 
to the man, as well as taught in the prominent stations which he 
has so long occupied, does not prevent a gentlemanly and friendly 
demeanor towards all who have intercourse with him. There is 
that calmness, thoughtfulness, and propriety which is becoming in 
one holding a sacred office, but the warmth of a genial, cheerful 
nature is as fully apparent in both words and actions. Kindred 
natures are instantly drawn to him, and all dispositions must in 
some measure respond to the influence of his fascinations. He is a 
ripe scholar, ard a bold and devoted churchman. His eloquence ia 
of the tender, deeply religious kind, uttered with fervent sincerity, 
and in language at once of simplicity and elegance. 

A man of energy, and of sleepless vigilance in the discharge of 

341 



JOHN McCLOSKEY, D. D. 

all duty, still he always seeks the most unostentatious manner of 
performing it. He provokes no conflicts, and he offends no opinions, 
but, with humility and prayerfulness, toils on in the sphere of his 
own duties. Hence the many monuments which he has reared to 
the usefulness and glory of his Church, and hence the spotless and 
honored name which he has given to the ecclesiastical history of 
his times. 

342 



rev. josepk Mcelroy, d. d., 

PASTOR OF THE SCOTCH PRESBYTEUIAJf 
CHURCH, NEW YORK. 







EV. DB, JOSEPH McELEOY is of Irish descent, and was 
born at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, December 29th, 1792. 
He was graduated at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, in 
1812, and subsequently studied theology with the 
distinguished Eev. Dr. John M. Mason, of the Presbyterian 
«&3 Church. He was licensed as a Presbyterian minister in June, 
1816, by the Presbytery of Monongahela, and in November of 
the same year became the pastor of the First Associate Reformed Pres- 
byterian Church of Pittsburg, a new congregation organized under his 
own auspices. After holding worship in the Court House for nearly 
two years the congregation took possession of a fine structure which 
they had been enabled to erect At the close of seven years service 
Dr. Mc Elroy removed to the city of New York, to become the suc- 
cessor of Eev. Dr. Mc Cloud, at the Scotch Presbyterian Church in 
Cedar street, formerly under the charge of Eev. Dr. John Mason and 
his son Eev. Dr. John M. Mason. This congregation was organized 
about a century ago, being composed of a body of seceders from the 
First Presbyterian Church. They were originally known as the First 
Associate Eeformed Church, and later by their present title of Scotch 
Presbyterian. A new church having been erected on the corner of 
Grand and Crosby streets it was occupied in 1837 ; and this was given 
up in 1853 for a still more costly structure in Fourteenth street. The 
property extends from Fourteenth street to Fifteenth street, and 
with the church and a school-house in the last named street, cost over 
one hundred thousand dollara 

Dr. Mc Elroy informed us several years ago, that but six of the 
families connected with the congregation, at the time of his entering 
upon the duties as pastor, now remain, and not one of the original 
male membership. On the other hand, to show the manner in which 
the congregation has grown within itself he states that a single family, 

343 



REV. JOSEPH MCELROY, D. D. 

increasing from generation to generation, from occupying one pew 
have come to occupy ten. The present number of members is about 
seven hundred. The Sunday school has about two hundred children, 
and a day school has over one hundred children. The day school 
is maintained by a fund of fifty thousand dollars obtained from cer- 
tain real estate bequeathed for the purpose by Alexander Eobertson, 
a leading member of the congregation. 

Dr. McElroy received his degree of D. D. from Rutgers College 
about 1825. His publications are a few pamphlet sermons. 

Dr. McElroy is of a tall, rather spare person, with a slight stoop 
in his shoulders. He has a head more long than broad, with uni- 
form features, now showing the contraction and other marks of ad- 
vanced age. His eyes are penetrating and intellectual, having also 
a particularly mild and benevolent beam. He is social in his nature, 
inclined to cheerful conversation, and on all occasions shows those 
impulses which best proclaim not only the truest manhood but the 
highest religious conscientiousness. You readily discover that he is 
a man of the utmost reliability in all things, as well as one of broad 
and substantial talents. His frank, generous, high-toned senti- 
ments — nay, his very tone and glance — impress you instantly with 
his sterling value of character. You contemplate him with that 
genuine and absorbing interest which exalted worth originates in the 
human bosom, and you listen to his words with little short of vener- 
ation. His manners are so simple and gentle that a child would be 
naturally drawn toward him, and his opinions are expressed with- 
out the slightest assumption of superior intelligence. There are 
those who claim a friendship for him going through an extended pe- 
riod of years. It is these, of course, who know him best, and it is 
these who say that his admirable traits of character, his delightful 
simplicity of manners, his pure-mindedness, and his lofty devotion to 
duty, are the things which have made friendship beautiful and pro- 
fitable, as well in its progress as in its beginning, as well in cloud as 
in sunshine. Humble-minded, noble-spirited, and devoted to Chris- 
tian works, neither circumstances nor time produces any impression 
upon him, save that of a higher and rarer development of personal 
virtues. 

Dr. McElroy is a very effective preacher. Always possessed of 
a striking power of argument, and a ready and efficient means of 
reaching the emotions, he has gained greatly additional control over 
his hearers by the touching weaknesses of age. Once he stood erect, 

344: 



REV. JOSEPH MCELROY, D. D. 

but now he is bowed ; once bis voice rung out with the force of young 
genius and ambition, but now it is sinking and husky ; once he was 
all energy, but now strength and life itself are in their fast decline. 
But, as we say, he never was more powerful in his pulpit ministra- 
tions. The olden religious enthusiasm is still upon him : his mind is 
enriched with the garnered learning of nearly three-quarters of a 
century, and the exposition of his faith still moves him to a tender 
eloquence. And then the bent form, the feeble voice, the brilliant 
flickering of the dying flame of energies, mind, and life, each and all 
give him added and even more irresistible powers. He preaches ex- 
temporaneously, but after diligent study. He states that he has not 
written more than five sermons during his ministry in New York. 
Of late years an assistant has discharged the chief duties of the 
pastorate. 

345 



REV. EDWARD McGLYNN. D. D., 

PASTOR OF ST. STEPHEN'S C-A.THOE1C CHURCH, 

NEW YOKE. 




1 EV. DR EDWAED McGLYNN was born in the city of 
New York, September 27th, 1837. He received his ear- 
lier education in the public schools and at the free college. 
In 1850, at the age of fourteen years, he went to Eome, 
^§? and commenced his studies preparatory to the priesthood. At 
the end of seven years, he was graduated at the college of the 
Propaganda, with the highest honors. In 1860, he entered the priest- 
hood, and also received the degree of doctor of divinity. For a 
short time he was temporary vice-rector of the American College in 
Rome, when he was recalled to New York by Archbishop Hughes, 
and appointed assistant pastor of St. Joseph's Church, where he re- 
mained six months. Subsequently he was stationed for a brief 
period respectively at St. Bridget's and St. James'. He went to St 
Ann's, as pastor, in December, 1861, remaining one year. In 1862, 
he was appointed by President Lincoln, chaplain of the military hos- 
pital in the Central Park, New York, where he served for three years. 
He was next appointed, in the latter part of 1865, assistant pastor to 
the distinguished Eev. Dr. Cummings at St. Stephen's. On the de- 
cease of that gentleman, in January, 1866, Dr. McGiynn was advanced 
to the vacant pastorship, which he still holds. 

St. Stephen's is one of the largest and most important of the Roman 
Catholic congregations of New York, numbering some twenty-five 
thousand people. In 1850, the first services were held by Dr. Cum- 
mings, in a small building on the recent site of the New Haven Eail- 
road depot, on Twenty seventh street and Fourth avenue. A large 
church edifice was erected on Twenty-eighth street, between Third 
and Lexington avenues, in 1854. This structure was enlarged, by 
being extended through the block to Twenty-ninth street, during 
1865-6, at an expenditure of one hundred thousand dollars. Mag- 
nificent marble altars were erected, at a cost of fifty thousand dollars, 
and all the other improvements were on the same scale of liberality. 
Various paintings by Brumidi, cost twelve thousand dollars. For 

346 



REV. EDWARD McGLYNN, D. D. 

the year 1871, the receipts and expenditures of the church were over 
sixty-three thousand dollars. The amount received for pew rents 
was over fourteen thousand dollars. For seats at high mass, five 
thousand; door collections at early masses over seven thousand ; and 
plate collections nearly twelve thousand. The collections for charita- 
ble purposes were over ten thousand dollars ; and the choir and extra 
music cost over five thousand dollars. Donations to the amount of 
about three thousand dollars were made to the " Orphan's Home," 
originated by Dr. McGlynn and connected with the church, and of 
about two thousand to the " Industrial Home," also connected with 
the church, for girls out of employment. Six priests beside the 
pastor, are regularly stationed in this parish, who, aided by the Sis- 
ters of Charity, also visit Bellevue Hospital, which has some six 
thousand patients per annum. The Sunday school consists of about 
two thousand children ; and there are religious and temperance socie- 
ties of much numerical strength. The music is very fine, and the 
Sunday vesper and holiday sendees are largely attended by Protest- 
ants. 

A few years since, Dr. McGlynn spent a short time in Europa 
He is constantly invited to different parts of the country to lecture, 
as he ranks among the most popular and instructive speakers of the 
day. His style, at such times, is particularly pure, logical, and vig- 
orous ; in some passages rising to the dignity of fervid and sublime 
eloquence. A lecture on u Public Education," giving in very argu- 
mentative and impressive language, the Catholic view of the Bible 
question in the public schools, which was published in the New 
York Herald, December 17th, 1871, attracted much attention. Both 
his sermons and lectures are delivered extemporaneously. 

The following extract from the celebrated sermon preached by Dr. 
McGrlynn, on the occasion of the reception of the Rev. J. D. Bradley, 
an Episcopalian Minister, into the Catholic Church, fully reveals the 
profound theological knowledge and large-hearted Christian charity of 
the preacher : — 

"I say to you in this assemblage who are not of our faith, that I do not wish to 
be so misunderstood, that because I yearn to have all men stand where I stand, I 
must necessarily believe that you and such as you, are altogether wrong ; that you 
possess no part of the true faith, and that you are inevitably excluded from heaven. 
This is not a tenet of Catholic Theology, although it has been thousands of times 
so misrepresented. I believe that if you sincerely follow the light as it is given to 
you, by the grace of God, you will not be condemned ; and I trust that your hearts 
will be still further warmed by the love of Jesus Christ. While, like Paul, I wish yon 
were all as I am, ' save these chains, ' my many imperfections, I would not be mis- 



■ 



REV. EDWARD He GLYNN, D. D. 

understood as condemning you for what you are. If you are honestly prepared to 
follow the Saviour ; if you can say from your hearts : ' Lead thou on, Lord ! 
and I will follow, ' I am ready to to take you by the hand and wish you God-speed, 
and pray that grace may lead you where you must knock for admission to the Cath- 
olic Church. If you are not as I am, I thank God that you are what you are. If 
you are an Episcopalian of the more Catholic type, I thank God that you practice 
so much that is Catholic. If you are a member of the Low Church, I thank God 
that you have advanced even so far as you have. If you believe iu Christ's divinity, 
I thank God that you possess so much Christian truth. If you only think of Christ 
as a friend, a patron, a leader, I thank God that you do so. I, a Catholic minister 
of the Gospel, teach from this altar that the most approved Catholic Theology is, that 
while we must all follow the truth, those who, through no fault of their own, are not 
fully informed, are naturally excused from the fulfillment of precepts, which they 
do not know, and will not be condemned for their ignorance. Id is necessary lor all 
men to have the grace of Catholic communion ; but if any man in perfect honesty 
fails to see the necessity, he is not to blame. 

"If any man should come to me, and ask to be admitted into the Catholic fold, I 
would say : ' No, unless your conscience approves of the step ; much less if your 
conscience forbids.' I, a Catholic Priest, declare that you must obey the behests of 
that inner tribunal of your own souls. Nor can 1 permit you to become a Catholic 
while a doubt still remains. I will tell you to go and pray, thiuk over it, seek in- 
struction, and only comeback when your consciencs fully approves of every Catho- 
lic dogma. This is the only faith I hold and profess, so help mo God ! 

"Such a declaration ought to silence with you the taunt about exclusive salvation. 

"Who will deny that it is necessary to obey the will of Christ, if he acknowledges 
the Saviour as his Lord and Master ? The only excuse is ignorance of his precepts. 

"If, on the last day, you can say : ' Lord, I did not know these precepts ; what I 
did know I fulfilled to the best of my ability; and if I transgressed, I have repented.' 
He will not condemn you, although, perhaps, he may chide you for not having come 
to Him and asked for knowledge through prayer. But if any man wilfully i-huts 
his eyes to the light when God wishes to show him the light — if he doubts and does 
not take every means in his power to remove the doubt — if he does not want to 
know God, is he not culpable even though he can truly say he is ignorant. It is not 
a sufficient excuse for a man to say — ' I did not know ; ' he must be able to say, 
' I did not advert that there was any obligation in me of making further enquiries 
after the truth, as I believed that I posessed it.' 

"I am only too happy to say with these reservations, that I thank God that you 
are as you are. I pray him to bless and sanctify your souls, to bring them all into 
communion with His own sweet heart, and to forgive all the faults of your ignor- 
ance and education, and that great fault of this century and especially of this 
country, prejudice against every thing Catholic, which is the woeful inheritance of 
past bad days." 

Dr. McGlynn has a tall, large figure. He stands and walks erect 
in the perfect embodiment of manly grace and health. His head is 
also of large size, with a full, round face. The brow is bold and 
handsome ; the eyes are small and brilliant, while the whole expres- 
sion affords that blending of the moral and intellectual, which makes 
the human countenance most interesting. His manner ^ are courteous, 
bland, and self-possessed. He is never anything but the priest, at the 
same time that he is naturally the courtly gentleman. Devoutness, 

348 



REV. EDWARD MCGLYNN, D. D. 

and graceful ease of both speech and manners, characterize him on 
all occasions. He is quick and ardent in his feelings, and bold and 
persevering in the execution of his plans. 

In mental capacity and erudition, he is one of the strongest men 
of his church and the day. Vigor, depth, and originality are the 
peculiarities alike of his study and teachings. He goes in no narrow 
groove ; he follows no beaten track ; but he is one who rises to the 
highest action of personal genius and virtue. He has been brilliant 
in every position as the scholar, and grandly successful in every re- 
lation as a clergyman and public man. An enthusiast in religion, 
still to the fervor of the devotee he adds that wide, searching, and 
grasping intelligence, which lays hold of every living issue of prin- 
ciple among men for ends of his own. He does not hide away in 
scholarly seclusion, but he loves to stand in the blaze of the sunlight 
to uphold his faith and join in the battle of good against evil. He 
is an American, thoroughly indoctrinated with republican principles, 
and having an abiding confidence in the glorious future of his coun- 
try. Consequently, he is the earnest ally of progress and enlighten- 
ment, holding that the Catholic Church will gain its greatest ascend- 
ency through these agencies. In many particulars his views are very 
liberal, and while his opinions, always sincerely and boldly expressed, 
have attracted no little remark within his own sect, nevertheless they 
have been too sensible and practical to be refuted. 

In his pulpit he speaks with the solemn authority of the priest, 
united with matchless powers as an orator. About him are architect- 
ural grandeur and church appointments in their greatest splendor, 
and before him is the vast multitude who hang almost breathless 
upon his lips. No priest and no orator can want more to inspire him. 
But this man rises to preach with a mind profound in study and 
daily observation, and a heart aglow with feeling. Moved by these 
impulses of his own, he utters language which shows the grasp of this 
mind, and the tenderness of these emotions. With sentences which 
areas terse as if written, though extemporaneous; with a majesty of 
reasoning which quickly bends the hearer to its power, and with a 
music of voice which can thrill and then melt, he proclaims his mes- 
sage of religion. Tall in stature, he becomes even more command- 
ing, and the fluent tongue is aided by the beaming eyes and expres- 
sive gestures. When the great throng hear the last utterance of the 
sermon, they are touched and subdued as are probably few other con- 
gregations of the city. Faith has been made vivid to the commonest 
understanding, and eloquence has won a new garland. 

349 



REY. JOHN N. MCJILTON, D.D., 

LATE RECTOR OF MADISON STREET EPI8CO- 
PAL MISSION CHAPEL. 




iBV DR. JOHN N. McJILTON was born in Baltimore, 
Maryland, and is over sixty years of age. His father 
was a Methodist preacher for over forty years, and the 
son, having been raised regularly in that faith, became an 
active member of the church at eighteen years of age 
% At nineteen he was a Sunday School Superintendent, and for 
many years he was one of the most prominent and popular workers 
in the Sunday School cause in Baltimore. If a Sunday School was 
to be started in a difficult place, or a declining school to be revived, 
the appeal was always, " Send McJilton.'' For five years he walked 
six miles every Sunday morning to school and home in the evening, 
without missing once. At fourteen he was manager and speaker 
of a Juvenile Society ; at twenty-two vice-president of the Young 
Men's Missionary Society, president of the Young Men's Teacher's 
Aid Society, and delivered addresses before both societies, that were 
published. He was led by accidental circumstances to read the 
Episcopal Prayer Book, when he became greatly interested in the 
doctrines and forms of that church. After serious consultation 
with different Episcopal divines, he became convinced of the autho- 
rity and propriety of the orders of the church, and eventually began 
to study for the ministry. He was ordained as deacon of the Pro- 
testant Episcopal Church in St. Peter's Church, Baltimore, and one 
year later to the priesthood in St. Paul's Church, Baltimore, by 
Bishop Whittingham. When ordained he was teacher of Male Pub- 
lic Grammar School No. 1, of Baltimore. He first officiated as as- 
sistant minister of Christ Church, Baltimore, under the Rev. John 
Johns, rector, and now Bishop of Virginia. His active energies 
were soon engaged in raising a subscription for building a church 
for a missionary congregation and Sunday School, in which he fully 
succeeded. The congregation and Sunday School were organized in 

350 



REV. JOHN ST. McJILTON, D. D. 

the upper story of a cooper's shop, and in eight months a church edi- 
fice was duly completed. The building was paid for when com- 
pleted, and consecrated by Bishop Whittingham, whose rule was 
and is to consecrate no church in debt. During the period of study 
and while a candidate for orders, he had charge of St. James' Afri- 
can Church, of which he was the rector for seventeen years. He 
now entered upon the rectorship of St. Stephen's, also, in which he 
continued for a number of years. He had the old building of St 
James, taken down, and a new gothic building erected, with a base- 
ment for a Sunday School, which was always crowded with pupils, 
both adults and children. 

For twenty-seven years he was chaplain of the Maryland State 
Hospital for the Insane. He was several years Superintendent of 
the Public Schools of Baltimore while rector of St. Stephen's and 
St. James' Churches, and resigned the rectorship of the former to 
give his time more fully to the schools. He held the position of Su- 
perintendent for nineteen years. During the whole of this time he 
was chaplain of the Maryland Hospital, and rector of one or other of 
the churches. He officiated each Sunday at St. Stephen's, once at 
St James', and once at the Hospital. 

He served two years as Diocese Missionary Agent of four central 
committees, ordered by the convention. He delivered the prayer at 
the laying of the corner-stone ol the Smithsonian Institute in Wash- 
ington, and of the National Washington Monument in the same 
city, both of which prayers are published in the reports of the 
proceedings. He received the degree of M. D. from a college of 
Kentucky, and D. D. from the Masonic University of Kentucky- 
He was Secretary of the Maryland branch of the Christian Commis- 
sion during the war. He visited the battle-fields and wrote appeals 
to the public, reports, etc. Four of these reports cover nearly eight 
hundred pages. 

In the midst of his other work in Baltimore, his literary labors 
for the press were numerous. He was editor of a monthly publica- 
tion called the Baltimore Monument, and of the Baltimore Young 
MeiUs Paper, Baltimore Athenozum, Maryland Temperance Herald, 
weekly periodicals. At a later period he edited the Baltimore Pa- 
triot, a daily commercial paper. He published a volume of poems 
of three hundred and sixty pages before he was ordained to the min- 
istry, and has published numerous volumes of Sunday school and 
other sketches. He has published by request, after delivering, twen- 

351 



EEV. JOHN N. McJILTON, D. D. 

ty-one sermons. His addresses and poems delivered at college 
commencements are numerous, and thirty-two of them have been 
published by the institutions before which they were delivered. 
Twenty years ago his nom de guerre of " Giles McJuiqqin " was one 
of the best known of the day. His reports while Superintendent of 
the Public Schools are replete with practical suggestions on the sub- 
ject of education. 

He was a prominent member of the Baltimore Young Men's 
Society. Young Men's Debating Society, Baltimore Lyceum, Mary- 
land Academy of the Fine Arts, and Society of the Baltimore Union 
Lyceum. He was conspicuous in founding the institution out of 
which grew the Maryland Institute, and delivered the first public 
address before the institution. 

Some years since he was induced to withdraw from his exten- 
sive field of labor in Baltimore, and take up his residence in the 
city of New York. This was done for the purpose of joining with 
the late John Hecker in the various religious, charitable, and educa- 
tional enterprises which had been inaugurated by that gentleman. 
Dr. McJilton became rector of the Madison Street Mission Chapel, 
and for several years labored with his usual efficiency. He then 
resigned, but continues to reside in New York. 

The Mission Street Chapel was formally opened for divine service 
on "Wednesday morning, June 17th, 1857. The services were of an 
imposing character. The Bishop of Mississippi, a number of other 
clergymen, and a large audience were present. The sermon was 
preached by the Bev. Dr. Morgan Dix. On this occasion the choral 
service was first introduced in this country. From that time to the 
present without intermission there has been a series of daily morning 
and evening prayer, with the litany on Wednesdays, held at this 
place. During the services of the opening, a communion service of 
solid gold, the gift of Mr. Hecker, was presented to the parish, and 
this is probably the only one of the kind to be found in the United 
States. Both this chapel and the one in Butgers street are well at- 
tended at the daily and Sunday services. Many of those who at- 
tend are persons employed in the Hecker flour-mills and stores. 
The Butgers Street Chapel is located in a portion of one of the 
buildings used as an immense bakery. 

Mr. Hecker was well known as a baker and miller on a large scale. 
The mills of his late firm in New York are the most complete in the 
world. He was a self-taught and self-educated man. In fact, he may 

352 



REV. JOHN N. McJTLTON, CD. 

be regarded as one of the most extraordinary men of the age. He 
gave daily attention to an immense business, but was also con- 
stantly carrying forward schemes of religious and moral duty. It 
was remarked by one who knew him intimately that in daily and 
exact attention to religious observances, he excelled any clergy- 
man in the land. His contributions for churches, schools, and dif- 
ferent charities amounted to nearly one hundred thousand dollars 
a year. He was the author of a work on the " Scientific Basis of 
Education," which shows most profound and original thought. 
■Learning of the career of Dr. McJilton in Baltimore, Mr. Hecker in- 
vited him to join him in New York. Another plan of Mr. Hecker 
was the establishment of a Normal School, for the education of teach- 
ers upon a plan of classification according to the human faculties, 
of which he was the originator, and which he discusses in his book. 

Dr. McJilton is under the average height, well-proportioned, erect, 
and active. He has a large head, with regular features. His man- 
ners are entirely plain and unassuming. He is of cheerful, genial 
disposition ; and while his countenance is always pleasant and happy, 
his words and manners are warm and sincere. A man of vast ex- 
perience with all classes of persons, and of a critical and intelligent 
observation, bis conversation is always interesting and instructive. 
As a preacher, he excels in practical, logical reasoning, and in tender 
and feeling appeals to the heart. 

Our record or him is complete, and tells its own suggestive story. 
No man in public life has toiled harder or more successfully. 
Thoughtless of himself, but brave, earnest, and unwearying in every 
field of effort and duty, he has accomplished the work of not one 
man, but many men. His talents are varied, and his energies are 
only equaled by his fidelity to every cause in which he has been 
engaged 

353 



REY. JOHN NIEL McLEOD, D.D.,* 

PASTOK OF TITE FIRST IlEFORMED PRES- 
BYTERIAN CJrIXJRCH, NEW YOKE. 




JEY. JOHN NIEL McLEOD was born in the city of New 
York, October lltb, 1806. He is the son of the late dis- 
tinguished Eev. Dr. Alexander McLeod, for a long period 
pastor of the First Eeformed Church. He was graduated 
at Columbia College in 1826, and in theology at the The- 
Jgo ological Seminary of the Eeformed Presbyterian Church, Phil- 
adelphia, in 1828. Accepting a call to the Eeformed Presbyterian 
Church at Galway, Saratoga Co., N. Y., he was ordained and in- 
stalled December 28th, 1829, and remained as pastor for about two 
years. In April, 1832, he was called to supply the pulpit of the 
First Church, New York, as an assistant to his father, and in Janu- 
ary following was made colleague, and on the death of Dr. Alexander 
McLeod, in February, he became and has since remained the pas- 
tor. Dr. McLeod thus speaks of the close of his father's ministra- 
tion and life: "»It was a matter of agreement between him and me 
that he would undertake the morning service, in whole or in part, 
and that, should he become exhausted, I must be prepared to take 
up and continue the exercise whenever he should lay it down. 
Sometimes he would be able to go through almost the entire morn- 
ing duty. Again, he would be found competent only to the brief 
exposition of the Psalm ; and on other occasions he could proceed no 
further than the second prayer, and, breaking off abruptly, leave me 
the lecture which, in coming to the house of (rod, he had hoped to 
have exhibited himself. There were occasions, too, when on appear- 
ing in the sanctuary he would find himself unable to ascend the 
pulpit stairs, and the entire service would thus be devolved upon 
his assistant. But when he did appear, whether it was for the few 

* Rev. Dr. McLeod departed this life, April 27th. 1874, in the sixty-eighth year of his 

age, and forty-sixth of his ministry. 

■SOv 



\ 



\ 



REV. JOHN NIEL IcLEOD, D. D. 

moments or the hour, it was evident to all that it was the body, not 
the mind, that was enfeebled by disease ; and ther? were sometimes 
strokes of eloquence, and burstings forth of power, and utterances of 
a matured spirituality that told that the old fire was still burning 
within him, and that, if he was to preach no more, it was not because 
his mighty mind had failed him. but simply because his work was 
done. It was on one of these occasions that he preached his last 
sermon. His subject was ' Death.' It was the second of two, the 
first of which had been preached some time before. He had not fin- 
ished all he desired to say in the first, and resumed the sxibject when 
able to appear again." 

The First Eeformed Presbyterian Church in the city of New 
York was organized at the close of the year 1797, with twelve or 
fifteen members, being the fourth of the Presbyterian organizations 
in point of date. The first preaching was held in school-rooms, work- 
shops, and other humble places of the kind. As early as 1790 
prayer meetings and preaching took place at the house of John Ag- 
new, No. 14 Peck slip. The records of the church furnish the fol- 
lowing statement under date of July 10th, 1799 : " The following 
subscription is intended for each Sabbath that we have a sermon : 
John Agnew, 1 dollar ; Andrew Gifford, 1-2 ; James Donaldson. 3 
shillings ; Duncan Campbell, 1-4 ; James Nelson. 1-4 ; David Clark, 
1-4; Samuel Eadcliff, 1-4; John Thomson, 1-4 ; Mrs. Boggs, 1-4 ; 
Hugh Small, 1-4; James Smith, 1-4: William Tait, 1-4; Mrs. 
Fisher, 1-4 ; W. Acheson, 1-4 ; Betty, 6 pence ; Letty, 6 pence," 

Rev. Dr. Alexander McLeod was installed as first pastor on the 
6th of July, 1801, and had attained to the thirty-fourth year of his 
ministry at the time of his death. As previously stated the Rev. 
Dr. John N. McLeod became the colleague of his father, and suc- 
ceeded him. 

The completion of the twenty-fifth year of Dr. John N. McLeod 'a 
ministry was marked by the presentation of a piece of plate and six 
hundred dollars on the part of the congregation. The plate bore 
this inscription : '' Presented to Rev. John Niel McLeod, D. D. T 
with six hundred dollars, by the First Reformed Presbyterian Con- 
gregation, as a testimonial of affection to their pastor, and commem- 
orative of the completion of the twenty-fifth year of his pastorate. 
New York, Jan. 14th, 1858." 

In 1801 a frame church edifice was erected on Chambers street, 
which was rebuilt of brick in 1818. A prolonged litigation took 

355 



KEV. JOHN NIEL MCLEOD, D.D. 

place in regard to this property. The place of worship was changed 
to other places; and finally the Union Presbyterian Church in Prince 
street was purchased for twenty thousand dollars. The edifice in 
Twelfth street now used by the congregation was first occupied in 
1849. The whole property cost forty thousand dollars. There is 
no debt. For more than twenty years the congregation paid one- 
third of the salary of Dr. Campbell, missionary in Northern India. 
At the termination of this arrangement the subscriptions were dou- 
bled, and in addition the salary of John Niel McLeod, a converted 
Mohammedan missionary in India, was pledged. A plot of thirty- 
two lots is owned in Greenwood Cemetery. In 1848 the First Re- 
formed Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn was organized by mem- 
bers from Dr. McLeod's congregation ; and in 1851 the Second 
Reformed Presbyterian Church of New York was organized by a 
colony from the First Church. In twenty-five years the number of 
members in the Reformed Presbyterian communion increased from 
one hundred and twenty-seven to one thousand five hundred and 
forty-five. 

Dr. McLeod was elected Professor of Doctrinal Theology of the 
Theological Seminary of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Phil- 
adelphia, in 1851, which position he resigned in 1853 ; was re-elected 
and declined in 1855, and again elected and accepted in 1858. He 
received the degree of D. D. from Dickinson College in 1846. He 
was one of the celebrated committee of fifteen of the American 
Tract Society, to which was referred the question as to the duty of 
the Society in regard to the issuing of publications on the subject of 
slavery. The committee reported that publications bearing upon 
this subject ought not to be issued. Dr. McLeod was also a mem- 
ber of the committee of nine appointed by the American Bible So- 
ciety to make a thorough revision of the Scriptures in reference to 
grammatical, typographical, and. other errors. The burden of the 
work was accomplished by a sub-committee of three, of which Dr. 
McLeod was chairman. In August, 1855, he was a delegate in the 
Paris Conference to form an Evangelical Alliance for the world. 
He passed about six months in the field during the late war, as chap- 
lain of the Eighty-fourth regiment New York troops. He is editor 
of The Banner of the Gross, published in Philadelphia, His other 
publications are a variety of sermons, addresses, &c. A sermon, 
advocating capital punishment, caused quite a sensation at the time 
of its delivery, in 1842. 



KIV. JOHN KIEL McLEOD, D. V. 

In 1873, after some forty years of service, an assistant was pro 
vided for Dr. McLeod. 

He is about of the average height, of full, round person, erect 
and active for his years. His head is round, with small, regular 
features, well-marked intellectual characteristics, and a thoughtful, 
composed expression. He is not without a considerable amount of 
dignity, but his whole bearing is that of the utmost courtesy. He 
speaks with much deliberation, and readily imparts tie impression 
of his large mental acquirements, earnest piety, and genial disposi- 
tion. There is a degree of cheerfulness about him, and a very deci- 
ded animation at times, but his clerical character is always thor- 
oughly maintained. 

Dr. McLeod's style of speaking is of the old-fashioned stamp. 
The Keformed Presbyterians are an earnest and sincerely pious peo- 
ple, clinging to the strict letter of their faith in all things. Hence 
a popular minister among them must be a man learned in the Scrip- 
tures, and showing in his own life and character the truths which 
he reveals and the principles he inculcates. Dr. McLeod exhibits 
all this profundity in his discourses, and illustrates his faith in all 
his daily walks. As a writer he is clear, pointed, and argumenta- 
tive, and sometimes very emphatic, but never indulges in anything 
like ornate fancy or impassioned eloquence. He speaks in the same 
way. He has a tone of distinctness and authoritativeness, and a 
calm, sincere manner. In a word, he is a marked type of the class 
of religionists of whose doctrines he is so conspicuous an upholder. 

357 



REY. W. NEILSON McVICKAR, 

RECTOR OE THE HOEY TRINITY EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH, (HAULEM,) NEW YORK. 




EV. W. NEILSON McVICKAR is the son of Dr. J. 
A. McVickar, an old and esteemed physician of New 
York, and was born in that city October 19th, 1843. He 
was graduated at Columbia College in I860, and in 
Theology at the General Episcopal Theological Seminary, New- 
York, in 1868. Prior to his graduation at the seminary, he 
became an assistant of the Rev. Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, at St. George's 
Church, in which position he remained until September, 1868. At 
this date he accepted a call to his present parish, which had been re- 
cently organized in the section of New York known as Harlem. 

The parish of the Holy Trinity Church was organized through 
the efforts of the Rev. Dr. Stephen H. Tyng, his son, Rev. Dr. Stephen 
H. Tyng, Jr., Rev. Dr. John Cotton Smith, and others, wdio desired 
to found in that portion of the city an Episcopal church to specially 
represent low church views. More than this, the ancient parish of 
St Andrews had become very large, and a second church was much 
needed to meet the wants of the increased and increasing population. 
Hence, in September, 1867, religious services were appointed to be 
held at the Methodist Clmreh, on One Hundred and Twenty-fifth 
street, near Sixth avenue, which were conducted by Dr. Tyng. 
After being conducted in this building for a period, they were held 
at the Baptist Church, and later at National Hall. In the summer of 
1868 an organization of a new parish, under the title of the Holy 
Trinity Church, was accomplished with the most flattering prospects. 
A call was given to Mr. McVickar in July, which he accepted in the 
following September, having in the meantime severed his connection 
with St George's Church. The congregation increased with great 
rapidity, many persons of other denominations than the Episcopalian 
becoming indentified with it, and steps were soon taken for the erec- 
tion of a church edifice. A very fine site, embracing lots one hun- 

358 



REV. W. NEILSON MCVICKAR. 

dred feet by one hundred and ten feet, was secured on the corner of 
Fifth avenue and One Hundred and Twenty -fifth street, where, oc 
the 5th of May, 1869, the corner-stone of the new building was laid 
by Bishop Potter, of the diocese, assisted by Dr. Tyng, in the pre- 
sence of a numerous assemblage. The ground cost twenty-live thou- 
sand dollars, and the building which has been erected cost about six- 
ty thousand dollars. It is of yellow and red brick, and is an impos- 
ing and beautiful structure, with a seating capacity of about nine 
hundred. The interior is handsomely decorated, and presents many 
pleasing architectural and artistic effects. There is a fine organ, 
which cost seven thousand two hundred dollars. The opening ser- 
vices were held one year from the date of the laying of the corner- 
stone, May 5th, 1870. In 1873 Mr. McVickar received a call to a 
church in Boston, at a salary of six thousand dollars a year, but he 
declined to go. A strong attachment exists between himself and his 
present people, and the growth and future prospects of the parish 
were such as to induce both to wish the relations between them to be 
continued. His summer vacation of 1873 was passed in Europe. 

Mr. Mc Vick.ir is a tall, large person, standing, we should think, 
over six feet high. He is erect, and a splendid specimen of manly 
development and grace. His head is also large, with regular features, 
and he has light complexion and hair. You observe much of that 
intelligence and amiability in his face which not only prove the re- 
fined and genial man, but one of force and judgment as well. His 
bearing shows entire self-possession and no little dignity. 

His religious views are liberal. Because he is an Episcopalian, 
he is not running a tilt with all other denominations, but is on the 
best possible terms with each of them. He desires to be an evangel- 
izer of all men in the fullest sense, and he welcomes all to his com- 
munion. In his congregation are those originally Methodists and 
Baptists, who all meet on the liberal Episcopalian footing which is 
to be maintained in Holy Trinity Church. In this he accomplished 
true Christian union, and gives his church a vitality and strength 
which are of the highest advantage to the welfare of the community 
at large. 

Mr. Mc Vickar has excellent capabilities as a popular preacher. 
Although an Episcopalian, he has cultivated the habit of extempo- 
raneous speaking, and much of his sermon is delivered on the spur 
of the moment He is naturally a good speaker, having an abundant 
flow of language, and a warm, earnest delivery. A close thinker, 

359 



EEV. W. NEILSON MCVICKAB. 

and fertile in his imagination, he does not find it difficult either to 
argue or declaim, and bis sermons lose nothing in force and brilliancy 
by being extemporaneous, but rather gain in both power and elo- 
quence. 

He is an ardent Christian, and a thorough-going worker. There 
is no holding back, no lukewarm ness, but he throws his heart and 
mind into his work with their utmost zeal. Consequently when he 
rises to speak he is full of his theme, and strong for his labor. As 
far as he has written anything it is comprehensive and sincere; and 
when he enlarges upon it, as the fresh and vigorous thoughts crowd 
upon him, he becomes effective in a high degree. His audience is 
sure to be carried with him, for he fascinates from the beginning. 
Clothed in his pulpit habiliments there are few clergymen who present 
a more impressive presence. His fine stature, and his erect, com- 
manding attitude, are striking. When to this is added his eloquence 
and popular style, it will be seen that he is well fitted to make his 
mark as a preacher. 

His career is before him. Thus far much has been preparation; 
but now he has entered upon the real work of his life. The field is 
wide, and will yield an abundant harvest. Guided by judgment, 
devoted through faith, able in mind, and earnest in heart, pure and 
self-sacrificing in character and life, this young husbandman is one 
who will surely till it according to God's own command. 

360 



REV. SYLVESTER MALONE, 

PASTOR OF SAINTS PETER .AJVX* PA-UE'S CATHO- 
EIC CHUBCH, BROOKLYN, (E. X>.) 




EV. SYLYESTEK MALONE was born in Meath, Ire- 
land, in 1821, and emigrated to the United States when 
seventeen years of age. He was graduated at St. John's 
College, Fordham, and ordained to the Catholic priest- 
hood in 1844. Sent to the Eastern District of Brooklyn, 
known as Williamsburg, with a population of only ten 
thousand souls, he undertook the charge of the first Catholic 
congregation there. His energy and piety were very strikingly ex- 
hibited, and his flock increased greatly. In a short time he built the 
handsome and substantial edifice, known as Saints Peter and Paul's 
Church. He was the first priest to introduce the Gothic style of 
architecture into the building of Catholic churches, now so generally 
admired and followed. Twelve or more parishes have grown out of 
this single congregation in a period of twenty-nine years. 

Says a statement, regarding Father Malone : " As a pulpit orator, 
he is eloquent and fervid; his sermons are all extempore, and of a 
pure elevated style. During the late civil war his patriot record will 
long be remembered by every lover of free institutions. * * * 
When the great Fair for the benefit of the Sanitary Commission took 
place, he was one of its most active supporters. When his Ward 
was trying to raise their quota for the army, he, unsolicited, gener- 
ously gave one-fourth of his salary for a year for that object It 
may truly be said of him that he is more American than the 
Americans themselves. As a minister, he is distinguished for an 
intense desire to instill and disseminate the principles of Christian 
charity, avoiding all sectarian controversy, and illustrating the truths 
of his religion by a life replete with good deeds to his fellow-men." 

In appearance, Father Malone shows both physical and intellectual 
powers. His head is large, with a broad face, which is highly ex- 
pressive of his talents, energy, and amiability. He is respected by 
all classes, and has accomplished a work in the ministry of great 
importance to his denomination. 3G1 



REV. G. HENRY MANDEVILLE, D. D., 

PASTOB OE THE E1TCST REFORMED CHURCH, 

(Hajr:l:e:m:) new Yortit. 




1 EV. DR. G. HENRY MANDEVILLE was born in the 
City of New York, December 12th, 1825. His parents 
removed to Morris County, New Jersey, when he was 
some two or three years old, and he was brought up in 
that section. He prepared for college at a school at Hack- 
ensack, under the care of the Rev. J. S. Mabon. He 
was graduated at Rutger's College, New Brunswick, in 1848, 
and at the Theological Seminary at the same place in 1851. In 
the same year, immediately upon the close of his studies, he accepted 
a call to the Reformed Church at Flushing, Long Island, where 
he was duly ordained and installed. He remained with the Flushing 
congregation for a little over eight years, doing a most acceptable 
work both as a minister and a citizen. While there he delivered a 
lecture on Flushing in a course for the benefit of the village poor, 
which was subsequently published in a small volume, with illustra- 
tions, under the title of " Flushing Past and Present," and is the 
best historical sketch of the place extant. In 1859 he was called 
to the Reformed Church at Newburg, New York, where he remained 
for a period of more than ten years. On the 1st of November, 1869, 
he was installed as the pastor of the First Reformed Church of 
Harlem, and successor of the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah S. Lord, who had 
departed this life in the previous Spring. Dr. Mandeville received 
his degree of D. D. from Rutger's College in 1870. 

The venerable First Reformed Church has a verj^ interesting 
history. With the exception of the Collegiate Reformed Church, 
the First Church of Harlem, or, more strictly speaking, located on 
the corner of Third avenue and 121st street, New York city, is the 
oldest church organization on Manhattan Island, having been founded 
more than one hundred and eighty years ago. It is difficult, if not 
quite impossible, according to the best authority on this subject, to 
ascertain with precision when a church organization was first effected 
in the district known as Harlem. Dutch settlers were there very 

362 





-^^Ul^ 




REV. G. HENRY HANDEVILLE, D. D. 

early, but whether they were in connection with the Collegiate 
Church, or whether they were formed into a distinct church, there 
are no records to show. It is stated in the old Dutch records of 
Harlem that on September 30th, 1686, the Kev. Henricus Solyns 
preached the first sermon in a new church then built, and adminis- 
tered the Lord's Supper. Hence there was then a church and a 
house of worship. The want of records prevents, also, any definite 
information concerning the names of the ministers who may have 
officiated for nearly one hundred years. The first minister of whom 
there is any definite account was the Eev. Martinus Schoonmaker, 
who held the pastoral office at Harlem previous to 1785, and who 
officiated there and at Gravesend, Long Island; but he left in that 
year, and became pastor of the Dutch Church in Flatbush, where he 
died May 10th, 1824, at the advanced age of eighty-seven years. It 
is not known precisely how long he had preached at Harlem. Up 
to this time it is supposed that the services at Harlem had been con- 
ducted in the Dutch language, but it is doubtful whether preaching 
in that language was continued after this date. After the dismission 
of Mr. Schoonmaker. the church remained without a stated pastor 
for nearly six years. 

In September, 1791, a call was accepted by the Eev. John F. 
Jackson, who remained as pastor for more than thirteen years, re- 
signing in April, 1805. Immediately after this the church extended 
a call to the Rev. Philip Milledoler, which he declined ; but the pas- 
torship was accepted by the Rev. Jeremiah Romeyn, who settled in 
April, 1806. After about seven years some difficulties arose, and 
Mr. Romeyn, at his own request, was dismissed from the church by 
the classis. The trouble continued for some time, and it was not 
until the Autumn of 1816 that another minister was finally called. 
The Rev. Cornelius Vermeule accepted the call in September of 
that year, and continued his labors with the congregation for twenty 
years. He resigned his charge in October, 1836 ; and, after a vacancy 
of something over a year, the Rev. Richard Schoonmaker was or- 
dained in March, 1838, who remained nearly ten years pastor of the 
church. For about a year the church was without a pastor, when 
Dr. Lord accepted a call in 1848. He was the pastor for twenty-one 
years, until his death, in April, 1869. His ministry was marked by 
three revivals, during one of which, in 1852, one hundred and 
twenty persons united with the church. 

The original church building stood on the plot formerly known as 
the " old burying-ground," bounded by First avenue, 124th and 

iJt>3 



REV. G. HENRY MANDEVILLE, D. D. 

125th streets. Here, in a lane, stood the original edifice until about 
the year 1789, when it was removed, and a new church erected in 
its place. The church was attended by many persons from West- 
chester County ; and it is related that some of the females made it a 
habit to wash their feet in Harlem river as they crossed it on their 
way to church. The congregation worshipped in a granary while 
the new church was being built. The spire was ornamented by a 
golden vane and ball, which is now on an outbuilding on the estate 
of the Hon. Judge Ingrabam. This structure was removed in 1826, 
and in 1827 the large frame building on the corner of Third avenue 
and 121st street, now occupied by the congregation, was finished. It 
is one of the finest of the old-time edifices. A large porch, reached 
by twelve steps, fifteen feet deep, and extending the whole width of 
the front, has four semi-Corinthian columns, supporting an imposing 
pediment, a cupola, and belfry. The whole of the upper portion of 
the building is the church proper. It contains one hundred and 
forty-eight p2w.-, and has comfortable accommodations for one 
thousand people. The pulpit is at the west end, or rear, and imme- 
diately behind it is a large recess, containing an organ and accom- 
modations for the choir. In the rear, and adjoining the church, is 
another building, containing the consistory rooms, Bible-class rooms, 
pastor's study, etc. The bell in use was cast in Holland in 1734. 

There are about three hundred members, and three hundred 
children in the Sunday school. Three colonies have been sent from 
the congregation to found other churches, and many have united 
with churches in Yorkville, Manhattanville, and Carmansville. It 
is the owner of much valuable real estate, and may be ranked as one 
of the wealthiest congregations of New York. 

Dr. Mandeville is of the medium height, with a round, solid, and 
erect figure. His head is round, with a fine brow, and, altogether, a 
genial, happy expression. His manners are polite and cordial with 
all persons. Without the slightest pretension in any way, he ex- 
hibits all the dignity which is necessary to his calling ; and appears 
to every one, as he is, a most amiable, refined, and pious man. He 
has firmness and nerve, but these do not so much appear until the 
time of action arrives. In ordinary intercourse it is his geniality 
and cheerfulness which are most observed. He is an active and 
busy man in his pastoral office. Feeling to the fullest extent its re- 
sponsibilities, he discharges them with a conscientiousness and 
fidelity that greatly endear him to his people. He goes among them 
with words of gentleness and piety, and deeds of sympathy and 

364 



EEV. G. HENRY MANDEVILLE, D. D. 

love. But, after all, he is no flatterer, no lip-server, and no trifler 
with indiscretions and wrong-doing. He is stern and strict to every 
moral and religious principle and duty, though otherwise so gentle 
of heart. A man of a great deal of practical observation and 
thought, he is intelligent and efficient in every action of life. 

In the pulpit he displays similar characteristics with those which 
distinguish him in personal intercourse. Modesty, sincerity, and all 
due gravity are to be observed in both speech and manners, and with 
it all a tenderness and conscientiousness that show the pure and 
loving heart He writes in good, plain English, and is far more in- 
clined to serious reflections than to fancy, though the latter is. not 
altogether disregarded. A ripe scholar, he expounds the Scriptures 
with clearness and force, and his intelligent observations among men 
lead to the unfolding of views which are always sound and practical. 
Hence his sermon's, without any attempt at oratory in their delivery, 
produce a most favorable impression with both converted and non- 
converted hearers. They are luminous with great truths, stated in 
original language and new forms ; filled with the interest and fellow- 
feeling of a well-informed and good man in the every-day affairs 
of life, and infused with the comforting and inspiring spirit of one 
who seeks to be a friend and brother. 

The ministerial character has its highest significance when dis- 
played in the person of a man like Dr. Mandeville. He has given 
it neither the affectation nor the eccentricity of which, in these 
times, it so much partakes. But he walks before his fellow-men with 
humility and devoutness which are in imitation of the Master, and 
according to His command to His apostles. At the same time he 
maintains the dignity and influence of his profession. His habits, 
character, and opinions leave no question that in all things he is 
a consistent servant of God. Consequently in him the ministry 
has not only one of its most efficient members, but the community 
a most influential and valuable citizen. He needs no apologists 
for his actions and opinions. At all times these stand forth in the 
beauty of purity and truth. 

All honor to such a minister and man. An example to his 
fellow-men, he is made worthy by his talents and labors of high 
professional renown. Earnest in the line of duty, through a suc- 
cession of important pastorships ; standing, under all circumstances, 
a bulwark of religion and virtue, he is justly to be regarded as one 
of the most valuable men of the church and community. 

365 



REV. WILLIAM S. MIKELS, D. D, 

PASTOR OE THE STANTON STREET BAPTIST 
CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




)EV. DE. WILLIAM S. MIKELS was born in Orange 
County, New York, May 18th, 1820. His academic, 
collegiate, and theological studies were all pursued in the 
different departments of Madison University, at Hamilton, 
New York. He was graduated at the College in 1843, 
Jgg and at the Seminary in 1845. He was first settled over the 
Baptist church at Bondout, Ulster County, New York, where he was 
ordained and installed during the year 1845, and remained in this 
position about four years and a half. His next charge was the 
Baptist church at Sing Sing, where he officiated for more than six 
years. On the 1st of November, 1856, he was installed as the pastor 
of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, New York, where he la- 
bored for seventeen years. In May, 1873, greatly to the regret of 
the congregation, he resigned the pastorship. For some time his 
health had been declining. In the spring of 1874 he accepted a call 
to the Stanton Street Baptist Church, New York. 

Dr. Mikels is slightly under the medium height, equally propor- 
tioned, and has a short neck and a good-sized head. His face is 
pretty well covered with whiskers. His features are small, and his 
countenance is highly expressive of amiability and kindness. He 
evidently desires to appear as a plain, unassuming man in all 
respects. His disposition is a cheerful one, and he is always found a 
genial and interesting associate. 

We wrote as follows of Dr. Mikels at the time of his labors in the 
Sixteenth. Street Church : " He is eminently a man of the people, and 
goes about his religious work without any preferences as to the class 
among whom he shall seek converts. He comes to all, as humble- 
minded as the least of them, and he rears his altar in the midst of the 
dwellings of those in moderate circumstances, the poor, in the locality 

of stores, saloons, and tenement houses. Crowds go to hear him. 

aw 



KEY. "WILLIAM S. MIKELS, D D. 

He has what is best described as a live congregation. There are old 
and voung — throngs of both sexes — and nearly all are, like their 
minister, earnest in the religious work. Whole classes in the Sunday 
school are converted, and the fires of revival burn on month after 
month. Why is it? In one word, because the pastor is particularly 
adapted for his work, because he makes the preaching of the gospel 
and the awakening of the sinner his sole duty, leaving utterly out 
of the question all thoughts of personal ease, emolument, and ambi- 
tion. He takes hold of the gigantic evils of the day, of the rum- 
shops and Sabbath-breaking, the vices and temptations which every- 
one of his hearers confront in his or her walks, which are to be seen 
about the very portals of the sanctuary, and he preaches of moral 
and Christian duty under such circumstances. 

" He speaks effectually because he speaks truthfully and earnestly. 
His sermons are very well composed, but if they were not the sub- 
ject matter and the manner of the man would be sufficient to claim 
attention. He is not prim and starched, but might be some intelligent 
mechanic or storekeeper in the pulpit. He is not deep and learned 
in his modes of expression, but is plain, homely, and practical, just 
as are the hearers before him. Such a man and such a speaker has 
necessarily a large influence, and Dr. Mikels is no exception to the 
rule. He has the undivided attention of his audience. He is their 
equal, companion, friend, and pastor, and in all these relations they 
have learned to love him. They attend to his teachings, and he 
leads them — fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters, 
old and young — to the altar. 

''He is a revivalist, and in every way a go-ahead, untiring 
worker in the ministry. Bold and firm in his opinions, and yet 
always kindly in his manner of expressing them ; sincere and de- 
termined in his efforts for the redemption of the lost, he has obtained 
a wide reputation in his sect, and is individually admired and be- 
loved by those with whom he comes in contact." 

Dr. Mikels has much to be proud of in his city ministry. He 
raised his congregation to the highest point of prosperity which it 
has ever known, and its influence has been greatly felt in the neigh- 
borhood in which it is located. Certainly, his ministry has not been 
without abundant return for his fidelity to duty and unwearying 
energy. 

367 



RET. WILLIAM H. MILBUM, 

LATE PASTOR OF THE JOHN ST. METHODIST 
CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




^)EV. WILLIAM H. MILBUKN was born in Philadelphia, 
September 26th, 1823. When five years of age he was 
struck in the eye with a piece of iron hoop, being at play 
with some boys throwing at a mark. His eye recovered, 
but a protuberance existed which affected the downward 
vision. Caustic was applied, which became so severe that the 
boy resisted, and in his struggle with the physician, both eyes were 
dashed with it. As a remedy for this new misfortune, they were 
kept bathed with a solution of sugar of lead for two years, but the 
pupils became so much injured that very imperfect sight remained 
only in the left corner of the right eye. 

In May, 1838, his father removed to Jacksonville, Illinois. The 
almost blind but persevering youth now became a clerk in his fa- 
ther's store, and at the same time pursued studies which he had al- 
ready undertaken. He could manage to see by having a projected 
shade over the eye, and then placing the hand convexly shaped be- 
neath it, and leaning the body forward at an angle of forty-five de- 
grees. One letter was as much as he could distinguish at a time. 
Says another : " At his place by the door in summer, and at a window 
in winter, sitting in a constrained posture, he received the sunlight 
of knowledge, as it were, through a crevice in the roof instead of by 
the effulgence poured in through surrounding windows, and besides 
the disability of sight, suffering from the incessant interruptions con- 
sequent upon strict attention to the store, and the constant ear-vigd- 
ance necessary to distinguish customers from idlers." 

He entered the freshman class of Hlinois College, situated at 
Jacksonville, in 1839, still continuing his clerkship. In the spring 
of 1843, his last collegiate year, his health declined, and study was 
interdicted. His ailments were a slight curvature of the spine and 
some internal organic complaints. 

368 



EEV. WILLIAM H. MILBURN. 

From an early period he had looked to the ministry as his future 
profession. As it now became necessary for him to ride on horse- 
back, the Methodist presiding elder of the district in which he lived 
urged that he should accompany him in traveling his circuit and assist 
in preaching. The following is an interesting account of the man- 
ner in which this plan was carried out' : 

" His father furnished him with a horse, saddle, and saddle-bags; 
his mother fitted him with a grayish-blue jean suit (a homespun 
woolen fabric, the coarse quality of which goes under the name of 
linsey-woolsey), and, thus accoutred, with over-coat strapped on the 
saddle, he starts forth, in company with the presiding elder, as an 
itinerant preacher, to make the first acquaintance with his circuit. 
He had never rode before to any amount, but at the end of two and 
a half days an appointment one hundred miles distant was punctu- 
ally attained. His theological course had also commenced, with the 
good elder as the professional corps, the Bible his text-book, the 
saddle his meditation seat, and (rod's wide, beautiful earth the sem- 
inary. The appointment was a quarterly meeting, held in a double 
log-cabin — that is, a cabin with two rooms, on the floors of which 
the preachers slept at night. The meeting began at one o'clock on 
Sunday afternoon, with a sermon by the elder. In the evening the 
local preacher officiated, at the close of which service the elder, with- 
out warning, spoke out in an imperious voice — ' Brother Milburn, 
exhort ! ' and thus, standing behind a splint-bottomed chair, ' Brother 
Milburn ' made his first address to a religious assembly, and his pro- 
fession was entered at the age of nineteen." 

During this summer he traveled a region of one thousand miles, 
preaching constantly. In September, on his twentieth birthday, he 
was admitted as a " traveling preacher " to the Illinois Conference. 
Two years later he was directed by the Conference to proceed to the 
East and solicit funds for the establishment of Methodist schools and 
colleges in the West. Being on board a steamboat on the Ohio river, 
when Sunday came he was invited to preach. He had been excess- 
ively pained during the trip at the blasphemy, drunkenness, and 
gambling which prevailed among the passengers, and especially in 
the case of certain congressmen, then on their way to Washington. 
When he took his place to begin the services, he found that these 
persons had been provided with front seats, and resolved to admin- 
ister a public rebuke to them. Accordingly, in the course of his 
remarks, he said: "Among the passengers in this steamer are a 

369 



REV. "WILLIAM H. MILBURN. 

number of members of Congress, and, from their position, they 
should be examples of good morals and dignified conduct ; but, from 
what I have heard of them, they are not so. The union of these 
States, if dependent on such guardians, would be unsafe, and all the 
high hopes I have of the future of my country would be dashed to 
the ground. These gentlemen, for days past, have made the air 
heavy with profane conversation, have been constant patrons of the 
bar and encouragers of intemperance — nay, more; the night, which 
should have been devoted to rest, has been dedicated to the horrid 
vices of gaming, profanity, and drunkenness. And," continued the 
preacher, with great solemnity, " there is but one chance of salvation 
for the great sinners in high places, and that is, to humbly repent of 
their sins, call on the Saviour for forgiveness, and reform their 
lives." 

Mr. Milburn shortly returned to his state-room, where a purse of 
money was brought to him in the name of the congressmen, with the 
request that he would accept it as a testimonial of their respect for 
his character and appreciation of his sermon. The congressmen were 
not disposed to let the matter end even here, for they proposed 
Mr. Milburn for chaplain of Congress, to which position he was 
elected. 

In 1847 Mr. Milburn went to the South, and for six years labored 
in Montgomery, Mobile, and elsewhere. To show the extent of his 
exertion, it may be mentioned that during five years of this period 
he preached fifteen hundred times and traveled sixty thousand miles. 

He was re-elected chaplain of Congress, and held the office until 
March, 1855. He delivered a course of lectures before the Lowell 
Institute, Boston, entitled " Sketches of the Early History and Settle- 
ment of the Mississippi Valley." Other lectures bear the titles — 
" Songs in the Night, or the Triumph of Genius over Blindness ; " 
"An Hour's Talk About Women ; " "The Southern Man;" "The 
Eifle. Axe, and Saddle-bags , " " Symbols of Early Western Charac- 
ter and Civilization." These lectures were delivered in all the prin- 
cipal places in the Union. In 1859 he visited England, in company 
with Bishop Simpson and Bev. Dr. McClintock, and delivered lectures 
in the chief cities to crowded audiences. During the same year he 
published " Ten Years of a Preacher's Life," and in the following 
year " Pioneers and the People of the Mississippi Valley." 

At one time Mr. Milburn was the pastor of the Pacific street 
Methodist Church, Brooklyn ; his last appointment was at the John 

370 



BEV. WILLIAM H. MILBURN. 

street Church, New York. He subsequently became an Episcopalian. 
He was ordained deacon in 1865, and priest in 1866 by Bishop Hop- 
kins of Vermont. In 1871 he returned to the Methodist communion. 

Most of his time is spent in traveling in this country or Europe. 
His more recent lectures are " What a Blind Man Saw in Paris," and 
" What a Blind Man Saw in California." 

Mr. Milburn has never entirely recovered from his spinal com- 
plaint, and is obliged to remain in a horizontal position during a 
portion of each day. His sight is now so nearly destroyed, that he 
is unable to read at all, and just dimly distinguishes the outline of 
objects in a favorable light and position. He recognizes acquaint- 
ances by the voice, and judges of character by the intonation as 
others do from expression. He moves about in familiar places with- 
out difficulty, and often travels unattended, trusting to the kindness 
of strangers. His memory is very remarkable. While at college a 
student came to his room with a volume of " Chalmer's Astronom- 
ical Discourses," and read a half or two-thirds of one of them, in 
which young Milburn became greatly interested, and requested to 
have it read again. After this was done he said — " Thank you 1 I 
have it now." 

" What do you mean — have what ? " asked the student. 

" Why, I have that sermon," was the reply of, Milburn, who at 
once repeated the part he had heard verbatim. 

After his marriage, in 1846, his wife became his principal reader. 
At some periods she read to him ten hours a day for weeks together, 
four or five hours at a sitting, and sometimes fifteen hours out of the 
twenty-four. When in Brooklyn, the ladies of the congregation per- 
formed this service for him, very much to his pleasure and their ow r n 
profit. Says another : " His habit at present, when wishing to com- 
mit a new chapter preparatory to public worship, is to have it read 
to him on the previous day, and he repeats it after the reader verse 
by verse, and then in sets of four verses, commencing each time at 
the beginning of the chapter. With one reading of the chapter there- 
after he is prepared to go through it before an audience without a 
possibility of failure. Poetry he commits with greater facility than 
prose. He is perfectly familiar with the hymn-book, and can prob- 
ably repeat most of the New Testament, and considerable portions of 
the Old. His retention of names, dates, facts, and conversations, 
seems to be equally good, the only difference of power being between 
the committing of prose and poetry. 

S71 



REV. WILLIAM H. MILBUEN. 

Mr. Milburn's success in overcoming the difficulties presented to 
him, as a student, and minister, by his blindness, is among the mar- 
vels. He stands a living and noble example of the fruits of that 
patience which is unwearying, and that desire for learning which 
cannot be defeated in its aim. The eager spirit which neither ac- 
knowledges control nor can bear delay must entirely fail in any 
conception of the task by which this sightless enthusiastic executed 
his heroic resolution. At noonday the tired student may look upon 
the face of nature, beaming with its manifold beauties ; or, as his 
midnight lamp grows dim, he may turn his gaze to the firmament 
stidded with its starry worlds ; but, through these long and patient 
hours — through these weeks and months, lengthening into years — 
this student-preacher found that even the little ray with which he lit 
up the pages, letter by letter, was fading into eternal gloom. Still 
he persevered, as within his mind there was rising a light of knowl- 
edge, which burned as a sun to his feet, and was more delightful 
than could be the fragrance of all flowers to his nostrils. Great has 
been his courage and lofty his ambition in such a struggle with mis- 
fortune ; but he has gained treasures to make beautiful his days on 
earth, and which enable him, with clearness of mental vision, to be a 
guide to those, like himself, hopeful of the celestial land beyond. 

Mr. Milburn is of a slisfht figure, and has a thoughtful and inter- 
esting faca His sightlessness throws a melancholy shadow over his 
features, but so amiable and intelligent is the expression, that the 
gaze willingly lingers in their contemplation. 

In the pulpit he has an eloquence beyond his words. To think 
that he is blind, and still able to conduct an entire church service, is 
to fill the mind with thoughts approaching veneration. Presently 
his soft, sweet voice recites a hymn and then a chapter from the 
Bible. You miss the books, but there is a new fascination in the 
sacred words spoken from the memory of the eloquent blind man- 
His sermon is equally impressive. It has all the characteristics of 
an extempore address, and is, in truth, delivered but slightly from 
memory. He is not boisterous and declamatory, like most of the 
Methodist ministers, but proceeds calmly, tenderly, and always elo- 
quently. His effort is to be entirely natural, and to touch the heart 
rather than amaze the mind. At times he shows great depth of 
feeling with his subject, and becomes more animated in his delivery. 

372 



REV. D. HENRY MILLER, D.D., 

PASTOR OF THE PLYMOUTH BAPTIST CHURCH, 

NEW yOKK. 




IEV. DR. D. HENRY MILLER was born in the island 
of Jersey, one of the islands in the English Channel, 
belonging to Great Britain, October 31st, 1825. He is, 
however, of strictly American parentage ; his birth having 
j occurred while his parents were traveling, and he was brought 
in infancy to the United States. Among the heroes of Bunker 
Hill was one of his ancestors. After attending a classical academy, he 
entered the Wilbraham (Mass.) Wesleyan Theological Seminary, where 
he was graduated in 1842. He was ordained in the Baptist ministry 
at Stonington, Conn., December 12th, 1847. He supplied the 
pulpit of the Stanton Street Baptist Church, New York, for some 
time, and in May, 1849, became settled as the pastor of the Baptist 
Church at Yonkers, New York, where he preached, with marked suc- 
cess, for eight years. 

In April, 1857, he went to a church at Meriden, Conn., where he 
continued until August 28th, 1862, when he became the chaplain of 
the Fifteenth Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers, and with them 
joined the Army of the Potomac. He was in the field for nearly two 
years. He accepted a call to the First Church of Trenton, N. J., in 
1864, where he officiated for three years and nine months. In 1867 
he organized the Broad Street Baptist Church of Elizabeth, N. J., 
where a magnificent church edifice was erected at a cost of one 
hundred thousand dollars. Here he introduced an order of public 
worship before unknown in the Baptist churches, which provoked, as 
such matters always do, a great deal of favorable and unfavorable 
criticism. He remained at Elizabeth until 1872, when he resigned 
his pastorship and accepted another at the Worthen Street Church, 
Lowell, Mass. His wife's health failing, he was obliged to leave that 

373 



EEV. D. HENRY MILLER, D. D. 

place, and he then accepted a call to his present pastorship at the 
Plymouth Baptist Church, in Fifty -first street, New York. This con- 
gregation was formed about 1870, by a number of persons who left 
the congregation in Forty-second street, with the Eev. Dr. Isaac 
Wescott, who was the pastor until bis retirement from the ministry 
by reason of age and infirmities. Dr. Miller was installed on Sunday, 
October 26th, L873. 

In all his charges, Dr. Miller has been a very efficient and success- 
ful pastor. Up to 1874 he had received by baptism into the church 
eight hundred and seventy-two persons. During his pastorship at 
Trenton alone he received two hundred and ninety-nine persons. 
While at Yonkers he was the editor of a Baptist magazine. He re- 
ceived the degree of Master of Arts from the University at Hamilton, 
N. Y, in 1854, and the degree of D. D. from the University at Louis- 
burg, Pa., in 1867. 

Dr. Miller is a most persuasive and eloquent preacher. His 
manner in the pulpit is that of a man entirely at his ease and at 
home with his hearers. Then he has a soft, pleasant voice, which is 
sincere and truthful in its every tona Gentle as a woman in his 
nature, he shows that he possesses the power of scholarship and the 
zeal to save. His audiences are drawn toward him by an irresistible 
fascination, and, consequently, his sermons make a deep and abiding 
impression. 

In appearance he is tall and slender, with an intellectual head 
His face is cheerful and amiable. With quiet and courteous manners, 
he unites a fluent and interesting flow of conversation. Happily 
adapted for his work, he pursues it greatly to the enlargement of his 
denomination, and to the advantage of society at large. 

374 



REV. DAVID MITCHELL, 



PASTOR OE THE CATST.AJL, STREET (IRISH) PEES- 
BYTEBIAN CHURCH, NEW YORK:. 




EY. DAVID MITCHELL was born in the city of Glas- 
gow, Scotland, May 3d, 1833. He received his education 
at the Glasgow University, where he was graduated in 
the collegiate course in 1854, and in the theological 
course in 1858. In the same year he became a licentiate of 
the Church of Scotland, and settled over St. Luke's Presby- 
terian Church of Glasgow where he remained several years. He felt 
a great desire, however, to make the United States the field of his 
ministry, and about eight years since he put his plan of coming to 
this country into effect, and arrived safely in New York. His first 
position in this country was as assistant of the Eev. Dl\ Rogers at 
the South Dutch Church, corner of Twenty-first street and Fifth 
avenue, where he officiated acceptably for about eight months. He 
also, during the same period, discharged pastoral duties at the 
Presbyterian church in Houston street. He was called to the Canal 
street (Irish) Presbyterian Church in November, 1867, and was 
installed December 15th, 1867. 

This congregation is one of the old organizations of the city of 
New York. When the population was dense in the lower wards it 
was second to none in numbers and wealth. A fine church building 
stood on lots in the rear of Canal street, and the entrance was under 
the buildings on that street The late distinguished Eev. Dr. Mc- 
Cartee was the pastor for about thirty-five years. He was a very 
noted and popular preacher of his day, and drew such crowds that 
often the pulpit-stairs were invaded by the audience, in their desire 
to obtain seating accommodations. Dr. McCartee finally left the con- 
gregation and went to Newburgh. He died a very old man a few 
years since. He was present, in an extremely feeble condition, at 
the dedication of the present building of the congregation. The 
church property was at length sold by a portion of the trustees for 

375 



REV. DAVID MITCHELL. 

about thirty-five thousand dollars, but another portion refused to 
concur in the sale — consequently the matter was in litigation for 
some fifteen years, sometimes with decisions favorable to the church, 
and at others adverse to it. Meanwhile the property rose in value 
to several hundred thousand dollars, and finally all the parties to the 
suit determined that the best course was to compromise, and get out 
of court The building had been destroyed by fire during a celebra- 
tion of the Fourth of July, and a new but smaller edifice was erected 
fronting on Greene street This was dedicated in 1865, when the 
Eev. Dr. Judkin, formerly of Washington College, Virginia, was the 
temporary pastor. In the settlement which was made in the suit the 
church received this building and ground, and fifty thousand dollars 
in cash. Ten thousand dollars of this was used to pay a mortgage 
on the property, and the balauce of forty thousand dollars is the pre- 
sent endowment of the church. Hence it is entirely free from debt, 
and is likewise conducted on the free principle in regard to pews. 
Until Mr. Mitchell was called there was no regularly settled pastor 
for a number of years. The number of members at this time is 
about one hundred, and there is a small Sunday school. Mr. 
Mitchell established and conducted daily prayer meetings for several 
months, which were well attended. 

The church is not well located for a congregation large in num- 
bers, or even of well-to-do people, but it is located where the Gospel 
ought to be preached, if anywhere. The congregation is composed 
of a respectable class of Irish, Scotch, and American Presbyterians, 
who cling to the organization by reason of its old and revered 
memories, and because it is a free church. Wealth and fashion have 
swept by, and in their room have come much poverty and vice. 
These latter are not social elements to be left to themselves, although 
wealth and fashion seem to think so. Squallor, licentiousness, and 
laziness have advanced to the very doors of this temple, and had its 
poor but earnest members shown no more concern for perisning souls 
than the richer part of the congregation, it would have been over- 
thrown long ago. But they have stood impregnable at their altar, 
and their faith and devotion have preserved it as almost the only 
bulwark left to morality and Christianity in that neighborhood. 

Mr. Mitchell feels the necessity and responsibility of his work 
where he is, and it will be continued with fidelity and zeal. During 
the time he has been in charge of the congregation there has been a 
new interest evinced in the church by the people of that section, 

376 



REV. DAVID MITCHELL. 

which has been much promoted by the daily prayer meetings. He 
is making use of all these influences to strengthen and build up the 
congregation, and give it something of the power which it formerly 
enjoyed, not only in the Presbyterian denomination but more 
especially as an efficient missionary agent in the lower portion of the 
city. 

Mr. Mitchell is of the medium height, compactly made, and looks 
healthy and vigorous. He has a large head, with small light eyes, 
and a ruddy complexion. In his manners there is some little reserve, 
but nothing to detract from genial, pleasant intercourse with him. 
He is sedate and sensible in the whole tendency of his mind and 
actions. In truth, his heart and head are thoroughly in his religious 
work. All his personal characteristics are kind, agreeable, and sin- 
cere, but it is readily to be seen that his thoughts are turned chiefly 
to a painstaking and unceasing attention to matters relating to the 
eternal welfare of his fellow-men. Nothing can wean him away, 
even for an hour, from the one object of his life, and all his ambition. 
He is a pastor to his people — a messenger of Christ in the full 
scriptural sense. His duties are discharged under a recognition of 
responsibility, and not, as in so many cases, as mere routine acts of a 
professional life. Wherever he goes, he is certain to walk in the 
light of the steps of the Master, and whatever he says to the inquir- 
ing soul is said with the ardor of faith, but with humility of spirit 
He belongs not to the class of vain, selfish, worldly young men who 
go into the ministry rather to display talents than to save souls. He 
is humble ; he loves the poor ; he is not afraid of the rough places of 
the ministry and its hard work. His longing eyes are not placed on 
any reward which the approbation and partiality of man can give, 
but only on the imperishable crown which is the inheritance of the 
just. 

Of course a man with these characteristics and principles is not 
one for display in the pulpit. He enters it devoutly, and there is a 
total abnegation of himself while he is in it. With manners of great 
modesty and humility, with an ever apparent seriousness, he ad- 
dresses himself solely to the duties of the hour, regardless of all save 
the eternal welfare of his fellow-men. 

377 



REY. HENRY EGLINTON MONTGOMERY, D. D., 

RECTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE INCAR1VA. 
TION, (EPISCOPAL,) NEW YORK. 




l§lEV. DR. HENRY EGLINTON MONTGOMERY was 
bora in Philadelphia, December 9th, 1820. His father 
participated in the war of 1812. and was appointed Post- 
master of Philadelphia by General Harrison. The subject 
vS) of our notice was graduated at the University of Philadelphia 
oJ? in 1839, being assigned the honor of pronouncing the valedic- 
tory address. After studying law for some time in the office of Hon. 
Joseph R. Ingersoll, of Philadelphia, he traveled in Europe, having, 
at the same time, a position in connection with the American legation 
at Copenhagen. Returning to the United States, he entered the Gen- 
eral Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York, in 
the summer of 1843, and was ordained June 28th, 1816. He was rec- 
tor of All Saints' Church, Philadelphia, for many years, and in 1855 
removed to New York, having been called to the Church of the 
Incarnation, his present field of labor. In September, 1816, he 
married Margaret Augusta, daughter of Judge James Lynch, of New 
York, grand-daughter of Thomas Tillotson, M. D., a surgeon in the 
revolutionary war, and subsequently Secretary of State of New York, 
and grand niece of Chancellor Livingston. 

An interesting volume has recently been issued for private circula- 
tion, entitled " A Genealogical History of the Family of Montgomery, 
including the Montgomery Pedigree." It is a very complete work 
of its kind, and the record is traced back in an unbroken chain to 
Roger de Montgomerie, Earl of Montgomeiie, who flourished in the 
North of France in the ninth century. A native of Neustria him- 
self, his ancestors were, probably, for many generations back, natives 
of that province, which, when conquered by the Northmen, was after- 
ward known as Normandy. The family came into England with 
William the Conqueror, and became distinguished in that country, 
and also in Scotland and Ireland. Dr. Montgomery belongs to the 

378 



REV. HENRY EGLINTON MONTGOMERY, D. D. 

line of descent from Hugh, fifth Earl ofEglinton, and the last of that 
title of the male line of the family. This Scottish Earl, foreseeing 
that he would die childless, and wishing to divert the title from his 
cousin, Sir Neil Montgomery, made a resignation of his earldom in 
1611, and settled the Earldom ofEglinton and Lordship of Kilwin- 
ning on his cousin Sir Alexander Seton. The earl died in 1612, and 
it was only after the title had been, kept in abeyance for two years 
that James VI consented to its assumption by Sir Alexander. The 
male representative of the family of Montgomery is John T. Mont- 
gomery, Esq., a lawyer of Philadelphia. The first of the name who 
settled in America was Wm. Montgomerie. He crossed the ocean 
with his young family in 1701-2, and located on Doctor's Creek, in 
Monmouth county, East Jersey. He was a member of the Society 
of Friends. His estate known as Eglinton is still in the possession 
of his descendants. It was but a few miles from the scene of the 
battle of Monmouth, the British army encamping on Montgomery 
Hill the night before the engagement. General Richard Montgomery, 
of revolutionary fame, was born in Ireland, and came to America in 
1772. Many members of the American branch of the family of 
Montgomery have been, and. are, distinguished in the various profes- 
sions, and names are to be found quite as illustrious as those gracing 
the annals in other lands. 

Dr. Montgomery's congregation worship in a very fine new struc- 
ture on the corner of Madison avenue and Thirty-fifth street. The 
Church of the Reconciliation is a flourishing mission maintained by 
them. 

Dr. Montgomery has published various addresses and sermons, and 
a collected volume of the latter for publication. In November, 1860, 
he delivered the address at the one hundred and eleventh celebration 
of the Society of the Alumni of the University of Pennsylvania. 

He is of the medium height, and altogether of a good figure. 
His head is large, round, and decidedly intellectual. He has a 
very fair complexion. He dresses in the clerical style, and his 
deportment is dignified. In personal intercourse he is polite, 
cordial, and communicative. Evidently an excellent judge of 
human nature, he is not long in detecting those worthy of his 
appreciation and confidence. He is a popular man, and his ac- 
quaintances are generally his friends. His attainments are extensive 
and thorough. He has what may be called a discreet ambition. He 
seeks distinction, and labors constantlv with the view of reaching the 

379 






REV. HE NET EGLINTON MONTGOMERY, D. D. 

honors open to him ; but he desires nothing which does not come as 
a tribute to merit, and which will not serve as an aid in his holy mis- 
sion to men. "While he does not seek honors in order to make them 
mere decorations for personal vanity, he is earnest in the effort to 
secure them to mark the advancement of scholarship, and make more 
illustrious the annals of the church. 

Dr. Montgomery is an eloquent, impressive preacher. His sermons 
are carefully composed compositions, and he has a most self-possessed 
and graceful delivery. His subject is not only deeply reflected upon, 
but he is at the pains to express his thoughts in choice, elegant 
language, which frequently reaches the highest standard of polished 
diction. In truth, some of his more labored sermons show him as 
holding high revel, as it were, with eloquent expressions and glowing 
imagery. He has also a dramatic manner. Here his complete self- 
possession serves him very effectively, for in these bolder efforts of 
the orator, requiring full command of language and composure in 
delivery and gesticulation, he exhibits a perfect discipline as well of 
his feelings as actions. His voice is clear and strong. 

Dr. Montgomery is one of the most devoted and useful rectors la- 
boring in New York. Not only does he struggle with unwearying 
zeal in his own parish, but he is invariably ready to contribute his 
strength in fields less promising. He is a soldier of the Lord, always 
bold, vigilant, and defiant. He is a reaper in the Christian harvest, 
always cheerful, untiring, and confident 

380 



EEY. DAVID MOORE, JR., D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE WASHINGTON AVENUE BAP- 
TIST CHUKCH, BROOKLYN. 




lEV. DE. DAVID MOOEE, Jr., was born in the count;? 
of Westmoreland, in the north of England, March 28th, 
1822. He came to the United States in 1834, when 
twelve years of age, and has passed most of his life in 
Western ISTew York. His early education was acquired at the 
different academies, and his theological course was privately 
pursued, under the direction of Bev. Mr. McOall, of the Scotch Pres- 
byterian Church at Lewiston ; Eev. Dr. Bull, also of the Presbyte- 
rian Church, and Professor GoodalL His studies were very thorough, 
his associations with his instructors being of a particularly agreeable 
and endearing character. He was ordained in June, 1852, and settled 
over the Gaines and Murray Baptist Church in Orleans county, New 
York, where he remained during a period of twelve years. He had 
been converted in this church in 1843, became a member of the con- 
gregation, and preached for one year before being regularly called to 
the pastorship. In 1855 he went to Leroy, in Genesee county, re- 
maining until I860, when he accepted a call to the Washington street 
Baptist Church, Buffalo. Having been invited to assume pastoral 
relations with the Washington avenue Baptist Church, Brook- 
lyn, he commenced his labors in March, 1864. The Washing- 
ton avenue congregation worship in a tasteful and spacious edifice, 
on the corner of Washington and Gates avenues. On the occasion 
of his seventh anniversary sermon Dr. Moore stated that during that 
period 610 members have been added to the church — 241 by bap- 
tism, 22 by experience, and 348 by letter — more than trebling the 
membership, raising it from 191 to 620. There have been raised for 
improvements and current expenses $100,000 ; for missions, church 
extension and higher education, $90,000. He has published various 
occasional sermons. ' 381 



REV. DAVID MOORE, JR., D D. 

Dr. Moore is a tall, well-proportioned, fine-looking man, with dark 
hair and evenly-trimmed whiskers round his face. His head is of 
good size, the features are regularly molded, and his expression is 
of the most amiable and winning character. The eves are soft, while 
clear and quick, and in conversation an attractive smile lingers about 
the mouth. He is very approachable, cordial in his manners, and 
usually exhibits considerable animation with congenial persons. He 
exercises the happiest and most diffusive influence in social intercourse. 
His pleasant, beaming countenance commends him before he utters a 
word, and then his polished, gentle, fascinating manners advance him 
still farther to the heart ; and finally, his interesting conversation and 
kindly expressions carry him to the goal of your fixed appreciation 
and esteem. And this is true of him with all classes and both sexes. 

Dr. Moore is an effective preacher, and decidedly original in his 
mode of address, which is more conversational than declamatory. 
His delivery has the appearance of being extemporaneous, while 
actually his sermons are written out in full. His practice is to give 
his subject a thorough examination and study, rendering it entirely 
practicable to deliver the sermon without anything more than notes; 
but, not satisfied with this, he imposes upon himself the additional 
labor of placing it in permanent form on paper. In consequence, 
when he comes into the pulpit he speaks with slight reference to his 
manuscript, talking in a free conversational way, and showing the 
greatest familiarity with the subject. His discourses are wholly argu- 
mentative and practical. He seeks to make plain the truth, to touch 
the susceptibilities of the unconverted, and nothing more. There is 
not a line for display, not a thought which is not directed to the one 
purpose of Christian teaching. His voice is not loud, though of 
sufficient compass for distinct hearing in a large building. 

Dr. Moore is a learned expounder of the Scriptures. His theolo- 
gical course, while private, was probably more complete than that of 
the seminary. With a vigorous, comprehensive mind, he is still an 
unwearying student and a deep logical thinker. Ever digging at the 
roots of each branching and bearing tree of principle, he is sure to 
so cultivate and fertilize its soil that it will hang more abundant in 
its fruits, and appear more wonderful in its beauty. 

382 






If 



■a^*^ 



REV. WILLIAM F. MORGAN, D.D., 

RECTOR OF ST. THOMAS' EPISCOPAIi CHURCH, 

NEW YORK!. 




EV. DR. WILLIAM F. MORGAN was born in Hartford, 
December 21st, 1818. He was graduated at Union College 
in 1837, and at the Episcopal General Theological Semi- 
nary, New York, in 1840. He was made deacon by 
W Bishop Browoell, at Christ Church, Hartford, in 1841, and 
<^ priest by the same bishop, at Trinity Church, New Haven, in 
1842. After graduation he passed some time with Rev. Dr. Berrian, 
of Trinity Church, and in April, 1841, became Rector of St. Peter's 
Church, Cheshire, Connecticut. Three months later he became as- 
sistant to Rev. Dr. Harry Croswell, at Trinity Church, New Haven, 
where he remained three years. In the Autumn of 1844 he assumed 
the rectorship of Christ Church, Norwich, and there remained for 
fourteen years. During this period, through his instrumentality, a 
new church was erected and paid for, costing $60,000. He accepted 
a call to his present parish of St. Thomas, New York, in 1857. 

St. Thomas' parish was founded by the late Rev. Cornelius R 
Duffle, at one time of the firm of Todd, Duffle & Todd, New York, 
salt merchants, but who had been admitted to holy orders in the 
Episcopal Church. Worship was first held in a room on the corner 
of Broadway and Broome street. An organization took place on 
Christmas Day, 1823, and the first communion service was adminis' 
tered on the 14th of the following March to nineteen communicants 
Mr. Duffle was duly called January 14th, 1824. The original offi 
cers were Isaac Laurence, senior warden ; Thomas N. Houghton 
junior warden ; and David Hadden, John Duer, William B. Lau 
rence, Richard Oakley, James J. Lambert, Charles King, Murray 
Hoffman, and William B. Astor, vestrymen. The congregation 
erected a large stone edifice on the comer of Broadway and 
Houston street, which, some years since, was destroyed by 
fire, but immediately rebuilt. Mr. Duffle died in a few years. 



383 



KEV. WILLIAM F. MORGAN, D. D. 

and was succeeded by Eev. Mr. Upfold, now Bishop of In 
diana, who was succeeded in two or three years by Dr. Hawkes, who 
officiated for twelve years, and did much to build up the parish. 
Eev. Dr. Whitehouse, the present Bishop of Illinois, was the next 
rector, being succeeded, after about eight years' service, by Bev. Dr. 
Neville, who officiated during four years, and was succeeded by Bev, 
Dr. Morgan. At this time the congregation consists of about two 
hundred families and three hundred and fifty communicants, and the 
average church attendance is twelve hundred persons. 

St. Ambrose's Church, Bev. Frederick Sill, rector, now a flourish- 
ing down-town congregation, was formerly a mission, sustained at an 
annual cost of about $3,000. Other missions are now as liberally 
sustained. The annual offerings for all purposes amount to a 
large sum. In 1871, a new church edifice, of a very imposing and 
costly description, which had been for several years erecting on the 
corner of Fifth avenue and Fifty-third street, some two miles and a 
half from the old location, was occupied for the first time. This 
structure, both in its exterior and interior, is one of the grandest of 
the many magnificent churches of ISTew York. 

On St. Thomas' Day, December 1st, 1872, the Free Chapel of St. 
Thomas' Church was consecrated by Bishop Botter, assisted by a 
number of the clergy. The chapel is a commodious brick building, 
on East Sixtieth street, between Second and Third avenues, which 
was erected entirely through the liberality of members of St 
Thomas' congregation. 

Dr. Morgan received his degree of D. D. from Columbia College, 
in 1857. His publications consist of various sermons. He was ab- 
sent in Europe from June to October, 1864, having gone abroad by 
Episcopal appointment to preach the consecration sermon at the 
Church of the Holy Trinity, the new American Episcopal Church in 
Baris. Bight Bev. Bishop McBvaine, of Ohio, was also sent out to 
perform the act of consecration, which took place September 12th, 
1864. The money to build the church was raised chiefly in the 
United States, by the unremitting exertions of "William 0. Lamson. 
the rector, Bev. Dr. Francis Vinton, Bev. Dr. Morgan, Benjamin R 
Winthrop, Esq., Hon. Hamilton Fish, and others. 

We take the following extract from the consecration sermon 
preached at the Church in Baris, and published in that city by a 
resolution of the Vestry : 

384 



REV. WILLIAM F. MORGAN, D. D. 

"Of course the American Episcopal Church had no thought of planting or 
propagating a new faith in France by rearing this hall ; for the Gallic branch of the 
Catholic Church, from the days of the Apostles, has kept the primitive faith, 
although, as now, so through long ages past, under a mass of unauthorized addi- 
tions, which has made her, with the entire Roman Communion, chargeable with 
the sin of schism in the Church of God. And I may add that this sin has been 
fearfully aggravated by the dogma which has, in effect, exalted the Virgin Mother 
above the Only Begotten and Eternal Son in the order of worship, and converted 
the principal churches in this city and land into temples of unscriptural worship. 
And yet, let us not withhold the undeniable truth that, like pearls among pebbles, 
so the principal doctrines of the Christian religion have been held amidst the cor- 
ruptions of the Gallican Church ; the divine inspiration of the Scriptures ; the 
true Deity of the Redeemer and of the Holy Spirit ; the union of the divine and 
human natures in the person of Christ ; his obedience and sufferings for the re- 
demption of men ; salvation only by his atonement, righteousness and grace ; the 
renewing and purifying influences of the Holy Spirit ; the general obligations of 
holiness ; a separate state ; the universal judgment, and the eternal retribution of 
the righteous and the wicked — all these precious and essential verities still hold 
place in the doctrinal formulas of the Roman Catholic Church. Even Luther 
allowed that we might discover faith at the bottom, and that ' under the Papacy 
there was much Christian good.' It was from these choice flowers of doctrine that 
those saintly Port Royalists, Arnauld, Nicole, Pascal, and others, caught an aroma, 
and inspiration of devotion and spiritual elevation, which has spread through the 
world. It was upon these projecting bulwarks of the Christian faith that those 
illustrious preachers stood, whose names are everywhere cherished, and whose 
mighty voices shook this empire, and made licentious courts and kings tremble, as 
Felix trembled before the great Apostle. 

"Nor, again, have we felt compelled to rear this hall because the Protestant 
faith has been unknown or inoperative here. France has been the theatre, the great 
battle-field in the war against Papal error. From the days of Claude, Archbishop 
of Turin, and from the days of Vaudois, who kept the faith of the Gospel so purely 
in the Swiss valleys, even in the eighth century, the struggle for primitive truth, 
extending across the borders of this empire, has been going on until there is 
scarcely a section of it which has not been drenched with the blood of Protestant 
martyrs. The most notable wars of France have been religious wars, carried on 
between a tyrannical court hierarchy and the defenders of a pure gospel, while the 
blots— the historic blots — upon the renown of this empire, most damnable and in- 
effaceable, are the persecutions and massacres which in times past have made it a 
Golgotha, an,d turned its imperial capital into a human slaughter-house. The 
stories of the Waldensian persecutions and of the murderous intolerance which 
pursued the Huguenots are among the most familiar in the Christian homes of 
America ; nor is it unknown there that within the last half-century at one period 
there were two hundred and fifty Protestant ministers proclaiming the Gospel in 
France, while at the present time there are French evangelical divines whose labors 
and living words are held in admiration and honor. Alas ! that the results of their 
labors, so far as visible at this day, should be only as the glimmering of a dying 
flame, sending but a dim ray athwart the almost universal gloom." 

Dr. Morgan is of a tall, large person, and of strikingly erect 
carriage. His shoulders are broad, and all his proportions are 

385 



EEV. "WILLIAM F. MOKGAN, D. D. 

ample and full, while there is nothing disproportionate or wanting 
in gracefulness. He moves with a firm, stately tread, exhibiting a 
great deal of courtliness and dignity. At the same time there is 
an ever-present amiability in his countenance, and a natural gen- 
tleness of speech, which quickly remove any restraint which his for- 
mality of manners may occasion. Chesterfield himself was not a 
better model of high-toned breeding than the Doctor. In private 
life and in all his public acts he is a pattern of propriety in this 
respect. He is as scrupulous in little matters as in great things, 
and in all his proceedings presents a brilliant example of the thor- 
ough-bred American gentleman. Never parting with the lofty dig- 
nity which becomes him so well, the humblest and the proudest 
alike find him equally courteous and kind. Failing in no particu- 
lar to sustain his own individual claim to respect and consideration, 
he is quite as punctilious in forgetting nothing which is due from 
himself to others. Hence intercourse with him, on the part of all 
classes, has all that charm which springs from true polish of manners 
and character. He is a man of lai'ge and tender sympathies, of 
strict conscientiousness of life, and of a deep rather than ostentatious 
piety. His mind is usually elastic and buoyant, and his heart has 
that valuable phase of cheerfulness which, while it is never particu- 
larly exuberant, can never be altogether extinguished. He is genial, 
fond of choice companionship, and not less the ornament than the 
delighted participant in cultivated gatherings. 

Dr. Morgan has the most acceptable qualifications as a public 
speaker. His presence is commanding and impressive ; he is elo- 
quent, and his voice is clear and mellow. Coming from his lips, aud 
said in his peculiar way, even simple expressions and common-place 
thoughts have a strange and new attraction, while his more studied 
passages permeate and thrill with wonderful power. He has not a 
great deal of gesture, and his whole manner of delivery is composed 
and dignified ; but his words are infused with those twin elements 
of oratorical effectiveness — the heart's sincerity and the mind's utmost 
grasp of thought. Chasteness, poeti-y, and beauty of sentiment and 
expression are all called into service ; but it is the heart, speaking 
from its truth and tenderness, and the master intellect, beating down 
error and doubt, that in this instance give the greatest influence to 
the speaker. Eloquence is not only decked in its charms, but armed 
with its omnipotence. 

386 










I 



REY. CHARLES WILLIAM MORRILL, 

RECTOR OF ST. ALBAN'8 EPISCOPAL, CHURCH, 

]V_EW YORK. 




'EV. CHAELES WILLIAM MOEEILL was born at 
Saco, Maine, July 23d, 1831, and baptized in Trinity 
Episcopal Church, on the 18th of the following September. 
His great grand-father was the Eev. Moses Morrill, a grad- 
uate of Harvard College, in 1737, at the early age of fifteen 
years, who was ordained September 29th, 1742, minister in the 
town of Biddeford, Maine, (then including the present Saco). Mr. 
Morrill was intimate with Sir William Pepperell, the chief landholder 
and a conspicuous patriot during the revolutionary struggle. In 
Folsom's " History of Saco and Biddeford " we find the following 
statement : " This gentleman (Eev. Moses Morrill), in the language of 
one intimately acquainted with him at that period, ' was a superior 
man ; of a deportment noble and dignified, seldom equaled, and never 
surpassed in this quarter. To this was added a capacity fully corre- 
sponding ; intelligent, easy of access, and communicative, he ranked 
high as a scholar, as a divine, and as a statesman. In such a melan- 
choly season as our struggle for independence, considering the general 
weakness or ignorance of the people, the value of such a man was 
incalculable. So deep an interest did he take in that all-important 
concern, as a statesman, he spared no pains to guide every one into the 
right way, nor did he fail in this. To his long standing there, and 
the confidence of the people in him was it owing in a great measure, 
that the principles of independence were easily disclosed and gener- 
ally embraced.' " 

The early studies of the Eev. Charles William Morrill were 
principally at the Thornton Academy in his native town. By reason 
of some difficulty with his eyes, he gave up, until he was twenty 
years of age, all idea of studying for any profession. As he recovered 
about that period, he determined to prepare for the priesthood. After 
careful study, under the direction of the Eev.- M. P. Stickney, of 

387 



REV. CHARLES WILLIAM MORRILL. 

Boston, lie entered the General Episcopal Theological Seminary, 
New York, from which he was graduated in 1859. He was made 
deacon at Trinity church, New York, by Bishop Potter, in July of 
that year, and preached his first sermon on the same day at Trinity 
church. He then took charge of Christ Church at Hudson, New 
York, for a period of nine months, the rector being most of the time 
absent Later he officiated temporarily at different places on the 
Hudson river; and at length was called to the rectorship of St. Mary's 
Church, Cold Spring, where he was made priest by Bishop Potter, in 
October, 1861. In February, 1865, he accepted the rectorship of St 
Alban's parish, New York, and entered upon his labors in March of 
the same year. 

St Alban's parish was organized as a free church in 1862, by a 
few young men connected with Calvary parish, who were engaged in 
a missionary work in the upper portion of the city. They soon leased 
a small wooden church, on East Fiftieth street, where services were 
held for the space of about three years. The Rev. W. A. "W. Maybin 
was the accomplished rector for the greater part of this period, and, 
after his resignation, the sheep, being without a shepherd for some 
months, naturally scattered. Upon coming into the rectorship, 
Father Morrill applied himself with great energy in the revival of the 
parish ; sufficient money was raised to purchase three lots on Forty- 
seventh street, between Lexington and Fourth avenues, where a brick 
chapel was erected, the whole expenditure amounting to about 
thirt}'-five thousand dollars, nearly all of which has been paid. The 
chapel was duly opened in November, 1865, and in the autumn of 
1870 was enlarged, to meet the requirements of the increased attend- 
ance, at a cost of about ten thousand dollars. From 1865 up to the 
present time some ninety thousand dollars have been expended for 
all purposes. The communicants have increased from forty to one 
hundred and seventy-five ; and the average attendance on Sunday is 
about four hundred. There are two daily services every week day, 
five on Sunday, and several services on all holy days ; the seats being 
always free. 

St Alban's Church, under its present rector, was the first on this 
side of the Atlantic to exhibit a complete and harmonious Catholic 
ceremonial, with all suitable adjuncts and ornaments of divine ser- 
vice, and naturally drew to it the attention not only of the members 
of the Episcopal communion, but also of the public at large. Its 
fame has extended over the United States, and it is well known in 

388 



EEV. CHARLES WILLIAM MORRILL. 

the mother country. The discussion of the high and low church 
question, with which it is well known the English church has been 
for years much torn, had occupied all branches of the Episcopal 
church and the denominational journals of this country; but no 
previous effort had been made to practice the disputed ritual itself. 
At the sane time St. Alban's is just as strictly an Episcopal church 
as "Trinity" or "St. George's," and is just as much under the juris- 
diction of the Bishop of JSTew York, as they. Its rector claims that 
he has only moved a little faster than most of his brethren in pro- 
moting the " beauty of holiness," but without consciously violating 
any law of Anglo-Catholicism. While to the Protestants these 
ceremonials seem a modified form of the worship in the Roman 
Catholic churches, nevertheless they are claimed to be a revival of 
forms which were practiced in the Eeformed Church of England at 
its earliest period. It is only simple justice to Father Morrill to say 
that he disavows, with emphasis, any sympathy with Popery as such. 
He professes to accept the Book of Common Prayer, and to stand on 
the same denominational platform with the most eminent of the clergy 
of his communion at home and abroad. 

It must be admitted that very many Episcopal parishes have made 
great strides in ritualism since the opening of St. Alban's ; and, gener- 
ally, the movement is gaining strength. The teachings of Dr. Pusey 
and others have had their weight upon both the Episcopal clergy and 
laity of the United States. The battle which is raging in England is 
going on here, but in a much more quiet and non-belligerent manner. 

The services as seen at St. Alban's are worthy of some descrip- 
tion. A large cross rises above the altar, and on either side are 
groups of candles, making about fifty in all. The vestments of the 
celebrant are of satin, lace, and other stuffs, and of rich colors, and 
conspicuously embroidered with the figure of the cross. The boy 
choristers wear cassocks of blue or black, with cotta ; the crucifer's 
cassock being of purple ; the acolytes generally wear scarlet ; their 
vestment being the rochet The services commence with the entrance 
from the front of the church of a procession of the clergy and 
choristers, bearing a large cross and symbolic banners. Most of the 
ceremonials are conducted while the celebrant has his face to the 
altar, and the cross is never passed without bowing the head. The 
clergy frequently cross themselves, as do the congregation, who also 
bow before the cross on entering. Before proceeding with his sermon 

389 



REV. 'CHARLES WILLIAM MORRILL. 

the rector crosses himself. Incense is used, and every part of the 
ceremonials is made thoroughly impressive. 

Father Morrill is under the medium height, and of round, full 
person, with a large round head. His face has a placid, amiable ex- 
pression ; and, while extremely serious in its repose, is light and glow- 
ing in the animation of conversation and public speaking. His eyes 
are small, but have a very observing gaze, and his broad forehead 
shows that there is more than ordinary brain power within. His 
manners are particularly courteous and genial, and his conversation is 
unrestrained, vivacious, and fascinating. He is a studious person, 
looking deeply and thoroughly into all subjects; and probably there is 
not in the Episcopal pulpit a man of his years who has more of the 
substantial qualifications of a scholar than himself. He is a thinker 
rather than a dreamer. His conversation, when it takes the line of 
argument, is extremely logical and full of scholarly and practical 
illustrations, and at all times is remarkable for attractiveness. His 
sermons are thoughtful productions, written in plain, forcible, and 
eloquent language, and perfect and exhaustive in argument, from his 
own standpoint of belief. His attitude in the pulpit is composed and 
devout, and his voice is always soft and sympathetic. 

Father Morrill will continue to draw to himself, in his position of 
rector of St Alban's church, a great deal of attention from his own 
and all other religious denominations, and he will be found fully able 
to maintain his ground. He is evidently entirely conscientious in his 
efforts, and he has both the intellect and the energy necessary in a 
man who is seeking to establish radical innovations in established re- 
ligious forms. His scholarship, which, with a mind of so much vigor, 
must become greatly enlarged, and his tact and eloquence, will do 
much in carrying forward his work. The seed which he has planted, 
and is so assiduously nourishing, will no doubt yield an abundant 
harvest The "signs of the times" all point to this result, while 
no one can witness the patient faith and works of Father Morrill 
without regarding him with the highest respect 

390 



REV. WILLIAM A. MUHLENBERG, D. D., 

PASTOR AJVID STXPZEIWIVTIErsriDIETVT OF ST. I^OKE'S 

HOSPITAL, NEW YORK!. 




)EV. DR. WILLIAM A. MUHLENBERG- is the eldest 
great grandson of Henry Melcboir Muhlenberg, founder 
of the Lutheran Church in America, and was born in the 
city of Philadelpbia, September 16th, 1796. He was grad- 
uated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1814. Having pre- 
JE3 pared himself for the ministry of the Episcopal Church, he was 
ordained deacon in 1817, and three years afterward priest, by Bishop 
White. On bis first ordination he became assistant to the rector 
(Bishop White) of the united churches of Christ Church, St. Peter's, 
and St. James', Philadelphia, in which position he remained three 
years. In 1821 he became rector of St. James' Church, Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania. Here he was chiefly instrumental in establishing the 
first public school in tbe State out of Philadelphia. In 1828 he 
founded a Christian High School at Flushing, Long Island, which 
afterward became St. Paul's College. Of these institutions he was 
principal and rector until 1846, some eighteen years. In 1846 he be- 
came rector of the free church of the Holy Communion, in the City 
of New York, erected by his sister, Mrs. Mary A. C. Eogers, as a 
memorial of her deceased husband. 

On St. Luke's Day, 1846, Dr. Muhlenberg called the attention 
of his congregation to the want of a Church Hospital, in the City 
of New York. Half of the morning collection, usually appropriated 
to the support of the church, was laid aside for this purpose. The 
smallness of the sum, only thirty dollars, provoked a smile from the 
clergyman who preached in the afternoon, who asked of Dr. Muhlen- 
berg : " When do you expect your hospital to be built?" " Never," 
be replied, " if I never make a beginning." From this veritable 
" mite," however, at length came a fund of one hundred thousand 
dollars ; and then a second hundred thousand, with which means 
an edifice for the hospital was built. The corner-stone was laid by 

391 



REV. "WILLIAM A. MUHLENBERG, D. D. 

Bishop "Wainwright, in May, 1854 ; the chapel was opened for divine 
service on Ascension Day, 1857, and the hospital was opened for the 
reception of patients, with religious services, and a sermon by the 
Eev. Samuel Cooke, D. D., on Ascension Day, May 13th, 1858. 
The site is on Fifty-fourth street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. 
It is so constructed that the centre building is a chapel, and opening 
from it in the side wings are hospital wards, by which arrangement 
the religious services can be heard by all the patients in their beds. 
The hospital is sustained by the benevolence of the Episcopal de- 
nomination, but persons of all sects are entitled to its benefits. 
During 1871 about one thousand patients were admitted. The ex- 
penditures for the year were $59,091 75. There are forty-five charity 
beds made permanent by endowment, and twenty provided for by 
annual subscription. A children's ward is one of the features. 
Through the benevolence of a number of wealthy citizens a large 
endowment fund has been subscribed. 

In 1857, Dr. Muhlenberg became the first pastor and superin- 
tendent of St. Luke's Hospital, a position which he still holds. He 
remained the nominal rector of the Church of the Holy Communion 
until a, comparatively recent date. In 184b he organized the first 
Protestant Sisterhood in this country, who are -in charge of St. Luke's 
Hospital, and a day-school connected with the Church of the Holy 
Communion. He has now entered upon what he considers the con- 
cluding work of his life in founding a Christian Industrial Commun- 
ity, known as St Johnsland. located on the north shore of Long 
Island, in Suffolk County, about forty-five miles from the city of 
New York. It consists of a property of nearly five hundred acres, 
with the necessary buildings for the purposes contemplated in the 
plan. The objects are to provide cheap and comfortable homes, 
together with the means of social and moral improvement, for de- 
serving families from among the working classes ; to maintain a 
home for aged men in destitute circumstances ; to care for friendless 
children and youth, especially cripples ; to assist indigent boys and 
young men who desire literary education, with a view to the Gospel 
ministry. Through the untiring efforts of Dr. Muhlenberg, and the 
liberal Christian benevolence of many of his friends, the institution 
has been placed on a permanent basis of constantly increasing use- 
fulness. A home for crippled and destitute children, costing over 
seven thousand dollars ; an old man's home, costing thirty thousand 
dollars ; and a church edifice, costing eleven thousand dollars — all 

392 



EEV. "WILLIAM A. MUHLENBERG, D. D. 

of these sums being the gifts of three individuals — have been erected. 
A stereotype foundry is a source of revenue, doing work for some 
of the best publishing houses of New York. Up to May, 1871, the 
expenditures and receipts amounted to about one hundred and sixty- 
six thousand dollars. 

Dr. Muhlenberg is a man of fine poetic ability, and has written 
various hymns and other pieces, which have attracted a wide atten- 
tion. A National Thanksgiving Hymn was a patriotic offering dur- 
ing the late war, which was generally sung in the New York 
churches. As early as 1824 he composed a hymn which is in every 
hymn-book, and is not excelled in religious fervor by any in the 
English language. The first verse is as follows : 

" I would not live alwsiy: I ask not to stay 
Where storm after storm rises dark o'er the way; 
The few lurid mornings that dawn on us here, 
Are enough for life's woes, full enough for its cheer." 

Dr. Muhlenberg is about the average height, well-proportioned, 
and unusually active for his years. He has a large, rouni head, with 
regular, intellectual features, and a profusion of silver-gray hair. 
His presence is dignified and venerable, and his manners are in- 
variably courteous and kindly. He is neither a man of self- 
reliance nor assurance, but of such modesty of manners as are 
found in few public men. And yet look at the works of his life ! 
Congregations built up, institutions of learning and charity founded, 
sisterhoods of benevolent women and industrial religious communi- 
ties organized, are the grand and successful practical efforts to which 
he has devoted himself. Who has done more — nay, who has done 
so much ? Still, all this has been accomplished so calmly, and 
almost silently, that the world generally hardly knew of it. Some 
men would have made a noise, thrown into the schemes an energy 
which would have perhaps drawn half its power from the know- 
ledge that the public eye was upon the movement, and achieved 
success by pure force of character. Dr. Muhlenberg has achieved 
his by the soft graces of character, by pre-eminent virtues, and a 
pious life. Men and women have loved him, and hence they have 
aided him in his educational, religious, and benevolent enterprises. 
His reliance has been in the power of truth and the providence 
of God, and his own part has been more to guide the expression 
of individual benevolence than to compel any man or woman to 
do their duty. As a successful philanthropist, he is peculiar in the 

393 



KEV. WILLIAM A. MUHLENBERG, D. D. 

means which he has employed. They are means consonant with 
his own gentle, unassuming nature, but are not those on which men 
most depend for success. 

Dr. Muhlenberg is a fervent and interesting speaker. His de- 
livery has little that is excitable about it, but there is a warmth of 
sincerity and a reverential regard for holy truths which impart much 
impressiveness to it. He appears the truly pious man, caring not 
to give prominence to the individual, but prayerfully solicitous for 
the eternal welfare of his race. 

His services at St. Luke's Hospital are particularly impressive. 
They are in the hearing and almost the presence of the sick and 
the dying, who are in the wards of the hospital. He has been with 
them at their bedsides, he knows their physical extremity and their 
moral wants, and he speaks to meet the case of many such a one. 
He is the pastor of these sick people. Going from ward to ward, 
from bed to bed, with words of kind inquiry, of hopefulness, and 
of religious counsel, they soon learn to appreciate a nature so benev- 
olent, self-sacrificing, and noble. His venerable presence is striking, 
and his words and manners are the most gentle imaginable. All 
these circumstances make him no ordinary character, as far as the 
patients are concerned; and when he stands in the sacred desk, 
within their hearing, and puts forth the appeal for them and to 
them, he speaks with a visible emotion himself, and it is felt by his 
sick hearers as well, and, indeed, in a less degree, by all present It 
is in all respects a service which those who attend are not likely to 
forget, and probably none in the city are more beneficial in their 
results. 

Dr. Muhlenberg is certainly a happy illustration of the Christian 
and benevolent character. His whole life has been one of practical 
service in behalf of his fellow-men. He neither claims the relaxation 
from effort due to a man of his venerable years, nor is he satisfied 
without giving these efforts the widest possible range. The good 
which he has done and the virtues of his life justly entitle him to 
the highest place in the estimation of his fellow-men. Unobstrusive, 
making no parade whatever of his works, he is one of the most 
earnest and efficient philanthropists of his time. 

394 



REV. JAMES 0. MURRAY, D. D., 

ASSOCIATE PASTOR OF THE RRICK PRESBY- 
TERIAN CHURCH, NEW YORK!. 




EV. DR JAMES 0. MUEEAY was born at Camden, 
South Carolina, November 27th, 1827. His father was a. 
merchant at that place. After pursuing his earlier studies 
at Springfield, Ohio, he entered Brown University, where 
^p he was graduated in 1850. He was graduated in theology at An- 
dover in 1854, and was ordained and installed during the same 
year over the First Congregational Church at South Danvers, Massa- 
chusetts, and remained in this pastorship for six years and a half. 
He then went to Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, to the Prospect Street 
Congregational Church, where he officiated four years. Having ac- 
cepted a call to the associate pastorship with Rev. Dr. Gardiner 
Spring, at the Brick Presbyterian Church, Fifth Avenue, corner of 
Thirty-seventh street, New York, he commenced his duties in Febru- 
ary, 1865. His immediate predecessor in the associate pastorship 
was the Rev. Dr. William Gr. T. Shedd. 

The Brick Church formerly occupied the triangular piece of land 
bounded by Beekman and Nassau streets and Park Row, now occu- 
pied by the Daily Times, and other large buildings, and is one of the 
oldest organizations of the country. The lot was obtained from the 
congregation by the Wall street Presbyterian Church, the first organ- 
ization of the sect in New York, and a church erected upon it, which 
was dedicated in January, 1768. During the revolutionary war the 
building was used by the British as a prison and hospital for prison- 
ers of wars, and was the scene of great sufferings on the part of the 
patriots. The church was re-opened in June, 1784. The edifice was 
known as the "Brick Meeting," and when the congregation removed 
to their present eligible location they reproduced the veritable build- 
ing in material and external form, but in immensely increased pro- 
portions. It is one of the most spacious and costly church edifices 
in the city. There is a great arched recess for the pulpit, with a 



REV. JAMES O. MURRAY, D. D. 

grand organ above, faced with columns of variegated marble. In 
the centre of the building hangs a magnificent chandelier which has 
over three hundred branches, and all the other appointments are of 
the same costly and elegant character. The property down town 
was sold first to the government, as a site for a post-office, but the 
title was objected to by reason of the reserved rights of the vault 
owners, and subsequently a sale was made to private parties, who 
immediately improved it. 

Dr. Spring was ordained as the pastor August 10th, 1810, and has 
now held that position for the long term of sixty- three years. He is an 
infirm old man of over eighty years, and his sight is so much im- 
paired that he cannot read, and has to be led wherever he goes. He 
attends church quite regularly, taking his seat in his pew and not in 
the pulpit, but sometimes makes an extemporaneous address. From 
these circumstances the heavy labors of the pastorship of the church 
devolve upon Dr. Murray. The congregation is still very large and , 
wealthy. Dr. Murray received his degree of D. D. from the College 
of New Jersey at Princeton in 1867. 

Dr. Murray is above the medium height, sparely made, and erect 
and active. His head is not large, and his features are small, with a 
thin face, but his brow is intellectual, and his eyes have that clear- 
ness which shows them to be windows to the gifted mind. His 
whole physical organization is delicate and refined, and he is a man 
in whom there is nothing demonstrative, except so far as it may 
come from intellectual force. He is a most agreeable person in his 
manners. He meets you with a high-toned courtesy, with a bland 
smile, and a warm pressure of the hand. He is easy and graceful, 
and has that rare power of showing perfect freedom of manners 
without sacrificing the dignity which is alwavs becoming in a clergy- 
man. A quiet, discreet-mannered man at all times, polished and 
affable in conversation, genial and kind-hearted in his nature, Dr. 
Murray possesses those qualities which are most admirable and popu- 
lar in the public man alike with the private citizen. 

He is a man of so much calmness and unobtrusiveness that his 
characteristics might be regarded as more of a negative than a posi- 
tive character. He is not one to push himself into the foreground, 
and he is a willing worker under the leadership of other men. He 
is truly modest, and has none of the petty feelings of jealousy which 
sometimes mar the comfort of the greatest men. His aim is to be 
satisfied with his position, whatever it may be. and with that rank 

396 



"REV. JAMES O. MURRAY, D. D. 

in his profession and in the line of duty to which his merits and 
character may advance him without any special efforts of his own. 
However passive and indifferent he may be in these particulars, 
there is nothing negative in his Christian character or in his Christian 
works. In these respects he is as bold and aggressive as in the 
others he is mild and non-combatant. His whole life is marked by 
a consistency, purity, and perfection in the illustration of moral and 
religious example in both precept and practice. There have been 
no deviations, no compromises, no falling short, but exactness, truth- 
fulness, and consistency in all respects. He has offended no man by 
scorning his opinions, but has secured the admiration of all by his 
faithfulness in his own. By his wise policy of exalting principles 
and underrating himself, he has won many a victory for those princi- 
ples, and at the same time shown a triumph over the weaknesses of 
mortal nature. Hence, with a nature singularly modest and unselfish, 
he has a force and power which is positive and omnipotent, coming 
simply from the purity and perfection of his life. His daily steps, 
his gentle counsels, and his earnest faith, are influences of irresistible 
power among his fellow-men. There are those who may fill a larger 
place in public notice, and who may make more noise and display 
in the discharge of their professional duties, but, after all, there are 
few who have more real and substantial influence over the consciences 
and conduct of others than this devoted and excellent pastor. 

Dr. Mm - ray has considerable scholarly attainments, and a great 
deal of power as a preacher. He has been a close and laborious 
student, and has that quick and ardent mind which is not satisfied 
without a wide range of study and entire thoroughness in it. Thus, 
as a scholar, he is fitted to take a position with the most talented of 
his denomination ; and his happy faculty of diction, and his logical 
and convincing style as a preacher, give him those additional quali- 
ties which are most requisite for the pastor of an intelligent and 
high-toned congregation like that of the Brick Church. In his 
position, superficiality and sensationalism will not do. He has a 
congregation of thinking people, and they require the Sabbath 
thoughts of a thinking pastor. He must go far beneath the service 
to the very root of scholarship and doctrine ; he must not only make 
his opinions plain, but he must support them with the authority of 
the learning and reasoning of his own. Probably no man ever 
passed a keener criticism than Dr. Murray in obtaining his present 
pastorship, and the very fact that he is in it is the highest proof of 

397 



REV. JAMES O. MURRAY, D. D. 

his capability. His attitude in the pulpit is dignified, but bland 
and kindly, like bis manners out of it. You see modesty and pro- 
priety in all that he does, and likewise a high and just conception 
of the responsible and sacred duties which engage him. His ser- 
mons are couched in graceful and well-chosen terms, and are always 
strong and convincing in argument. His deep personal conscien- 
tiousness, and his absorbing interest in the religious welfare of his 
fellow-men, are clearly shown in every line. He addresses himself 
to the mind and to the heart of his hearers, but he does not neglect 
to show them that his words are his own convictions, and his state- 
ment of their duty is accepted as not less the measure of his own. 
Dr. Murray is the ministerial associate of one of the most illus- 
trious men -who ever adorned the American pulpit. His commanding 
talents and his noble life have received the fullest indorsement from 
bis aged and experienced associate, and he pursues his labors with 
Dr. Spring's warm encouragement and sincere commendation. One of 
these godly men is tottering to his grave after a life-long service of 
honor and fame, and the other is climbing upward to the same pin- 
nacle, guided by the same steadfast principles of faith, and inspired 
by the same sense of duty to his religion and to mankind. The race 
of one is nearly run — marked as it has been by its personal virtues 
and its professional greatness; and the career of the other will un- 
doubtedly culminate in equal glory, and throughout be as highly 
advantageous to the welfare of the church and the community at 
large. The aged servant of the Lord may go to his reward with his 
mission fulfilled, and his work well done. Moreover, he will have 
the satisfaction of knowing that his vacant place will be taken by 
one chosen by himself to its arduous but exalted duties, and one 
whose talents are a sure guarrantee of his success as his virtues are 
of his faithfulness, 

398 



REY. WILLIAM W. NEWELL, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE .A-T^EETS" STREET PRESBT- 
TER1AN CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




EY. DR WILLIAM W. NEWELL was born at Natick, 
Massachusetts, September 17th, 1807. He prepared for 
college at the Phillips' Academy at Andover, was grad- 
uated at Yale College in 1830, and took his theological 
course at Andover. He was first settled at Brighton, Massa- 
chusetts, as pastor of a Congregational church, where he was 
installed August 19th, 1834. He remained three years, and then 
went to the Maverick Congregational Church, Boston, where he 
officiated four years, when he was compelled to relinquish the posi- 
tion by finding the climate too severe for him. His next place of 
service was over the Presbyterian Church at Montgomery, Orange 
county, 1ST. Y., where he remained six years. He was subsequently 
called to the Presbyterian Church at Syracuse, where he remained 
thirteen years. In January, 1860, he was installed in his present 
position of pastor of the Allen street Presbyterian Church, New York, 
where he has had a most successful ministry. 

The Allen street church is one of the old religious organizations 
of the city of New York, and is still in a very flourishing condition. 
On the 1st of May, 1816, the ladies of New York formed a missionary 
society, and employed a missionary to labor in the most destitute 
portions of the city. To facilitate his labors, a house of worship 
was erected in Madison street, near the corner of Catharine street, 
which was dedicated October 25th, 1817. This edifice was built of 
wood, and cost about twenty-five hundred dollars. On the 28th of 
May, 1819, eleven individuals, most of them members of the Brick 
Presbyterian Church, then corner Beekman and Nassau streets, met 
at a private house, and organized into a Presbyterian church. In 
1823, the church edifice was removed to its present location in Allen 
street. The church was under the care of the Kev. Mr. Gray from 
1818 until 1827, when he resigned. During the two following years 

399 



REV. WILLIAM W. NEWELL. D. D. 

the congregation was without a regular ministerial supply, and be- 
came at length so reduced in strength that the edifice was offered for . 
sale. By the aid of friends and the strenuous exertions of the mem- 
bers the sale was prevented. 

In March, 1829, the Eev. Henry "White was installed the first 
pastor of the church, when its connection with the missionary society 
ceased, and the congregation defrayed its own expenses. The pre- 
sent house of worship was opened for public services in the spring of 
1834. During the fall of 1863, a mortgage of three thousand dollars, 
then resting upon the church edifice, was removed, and the building 
entirely repaired and painted. This left the church wholly free from 
debt Up to 1866 there had been connected with the congregation 
fourteen hundred and seventy-three persons. ■-'The present number 
of members is seven hundred and twenty, and there are fourteen hun- 
dred and thirty children in the parish and different mission Sunday 
schools. During 1867, more than two hundred and twenty persons 
joined the church, of whom one hundred and fifty-four were admitted 
at one time, most of these being young men. The Sunday school 
was organized in 1816, three years before the organization of the 
church, under the care of the Rev. Franklin G. Vail. The next 
superintendent was Samuel L. Kennedy, who served about twenty- 
two years, until his death in 1840. The fiftieth anniversary of the 
Sunday school was celebrated November 18th, 1864, with appropriate 
exercises. At that time, more than four hundred officers and teach- 
ers and three thousand eight hundred scholars had been members of 
the school. Thirty persons converted in the school subsequently be- 
came preachers of the gospel. 

Eev. Henry White resigned the pastorship in March, 1837, and 
Rev. William Beadley was installed December 3d, 1837, and dismissed 
April 7th, 1839; Rev. Dr. George B. Cheever was installed October 
10th, 1839, and dismissed April 24th, 1844 ; Rev. Dr. David B. Coe 
was installed October 14th, 1844, and dismissed May 13th, 1849 ; 
Rev. George Thacher was installed May 26th, 1850, and dismissed 
October 15th, 1854; Rev. George C. Lucas was installed April 11th, 
1855, and dismissed November 15th, 1859 ; Rev. Dr. William W. 
Newell entered upon his labors January 20th, 1860, and was installed 
February 8th, 1860, by the Third Presbytery of New York. 

Dr. Newell received his degree of D. D. from Hamilton College 
id 1859. He passed some time in Europe in 1858, and on his return 

400 



REV. WILLIAM W. NEWELL, D. D. 

published a volume of travels entitled "Continental Sketches." He 
has also published various occasional sermons. 

Dr. Newell is of tall, thin person, and erect carriage. He has a 
head of medium size, with regular features, and an expression of 
mingled amiability and intelligence. He is a man of plain manners, 
and all his qualities are those of the more sedate and substantial kind 
He makes every one entirely at home with himself, talks freely and 
frankly on all subjects, secular as well as religious, and shows a gen- 
tle heart, a clear, comprehensive mind, and thorough devotion to 
principles and duty. His life has been one of study, and energetic, 
conscientious ministerial labor. 

Dr. Newell's style of preaching may be described as something 
peculiar to himself. Ct is fatherly, tender, and devout to the utmost 
degree. He does not take a position of authority over the hearer, 
but with soft words and impressive counsels he subdues the mind 
and heart to his control. His sincere, devout manner, and his affec- 
tionate tone, render his appeals particularly effective with young per- 
sons. They find that he makes everything clear by the use of plain, 
comprehensive language, and, beside this, indulges in a strain of elo- 
quent religious pathos which few can withstand. He melts them to 
tears, he touches the secret springs of feeling in the soul until it wells 
up and overflows with spiritual desires, and he plants the feet of the 
convert on the rock of faith. His ministry in New York stands a 
monument for all time to his energy, talents, and faith. 

401 



RET. HENRY D. NORTHROP, 

T?A_STOR OF THE TWENTY-TH1RD STREET 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, ]VEW YORK. 




EV. HENEY D. NOETHBOP was born in Steuben 
county, New York, March 10th, 1836. His early studies 
were at Homer, Cortlanclt county, a*<l he was graduated at 
Amherst College, Massachusetts, in 1857. His theolog- 
studies were at the Union Theological Seminary, New 
¥Hh York, and at the Theological School of Yale College, at 
which latter institution he concluded these studies in 1859. In the 
same year he went to London, England, where he spent several 
months in a missionary work. Returning to the United States in 
1860, he was ordained and installed, by the Congregational Associa- 
tion of Brooklyn, as pastor of the Park Congregational Church of 
that city, where he remained a year and a half. 

While abroad he had made his mark as an eloquent and zealous 
worker in the spiritual field. In 1860, he conducted the services of 
the celebrated Mr. Spurgeon, at Exeter Hall, and in the Park street 
church, during the absence of that gentleman on the continent. In- 
ducements were offered him to return to London and enter again upon 
a missionary labor. Accordingly, he a second time crossed the ocean, 
and began his work in Bethnal Green Parish, which is chiefly popu- 
lated by a working class, many of whom are hand-weavers. Here he 
started what is now known as the Victoria Park Congregational 
Church, w T ith one person. The enterprise prospered, and it soon be- 
came necessary to build a church. A piece of land was leased from 
the crown for ninety-nine years, and a plain, substantial iron building 
put up at a cost of about twelve thousand dollars. An interesting cir- 
cumstance in this connection is, that this land is a portion of what is 
known as the "Bishop Bonner estate," which individual, in his day, 
was a noted persecutor of the dissenters. Mr. Northrop remained in 
this church for a period of three years. The church was self-sup- 
porting from the beginning, and when Mr. Northrop left it there were 

402 



REV. HENRY D. NORTHROP. 

twelve hundred sittings let. The membership amounted to fifteen 
hundred, and the attendance at times to twenty-five hundred people. 
The work in this locality was regarded as one of the most successful 
ever undertaken in London. 

For one year Mr. Northrop was engaged in preaching in different 
parts of England, and a great deal in Scotland. This effort was made 
under an arrangement with a committee of gentlemen, of whom the 
Earl of Shaftsbury was one of the most prominent. Wherever he 
went crowds flocked to hear him, and his labors as an evangelist re- 
ceived the warmest approval from the friends of religion throughout 
the United Kingdom. 

At length he returned to the United States, and during the sum- 
mer of 1867, he officiated temporarily as the pastor of the College 
street Congregational Church, New Haven. In October of the same 
year, he was called to the Twenty-third street Presbyterian Church, 
New York, and was installed in February, 1868. 

The Twenty-third street Presbyterian Church was organized in 
1834. At that time the Presbytery of New York instituted a relig- 
ious movement to meet " the wants of that section of the city on the 
Eighth avenue." Preaching was held in Twenty-third street and 
other neighboring localities for some time, when lots were obtained on 
Twenty-third street, near Seventh avenue, where a large and impos- 
ing church edifice was erected. The cost of the whole property was 
about sixty thousand dollars, and the church is now entirely free from 
debt. In April, 1852, the Rev. Dr. Frederick Gh Clark was installed 
as the pastor, and thus continued for fifteen years. He was suc- 
ceeded by Mr. Northrop, under whose charge the church is very 
flourishing. 

Mr. Northrop is under the medium height, equally proportioned, 
and erect. He has a head of marked intellectual peculiarities. The 
lower part of the face is narrow, but the brow is round and full, and 
broad and high. His brain must be massive, for the proportions of 
the forehead are much in excess of the other portions of the head. 
His eyes are light, with a clear, intelligent look, and, while there is 
much thoughtfuluess about the face, it has always a cheerful and 
amiable expression. You see at once that he is a thinker and 
worker, and that he is one who is not less quick in the application of 
his mind and energies than he is tireless in his zeal. His manners 
are warmly courteous and winning. He does nothing for the mere 
sake of dignity, but he acts the gentleman naturally, and maintains 

403 



REV. HENRY D. NORTHROP. 

the credit of his professional position without the sacrifice of any of 
that humility, courtesy, and kindness which are taught by its princi- 
ples. His grasp of the hand is warm, sincere, and brotherly, and his 
words are gentle, just, and Christian. He talks without reserve, he 
enters into your feelings whatever they may be, and he wins your re- 
spect at the same time that he interests and fascinates you. 

Mr. Northrop is a shrewd, far-seeing man. He is familiar with 
the world's affairs and with men's hearts. He thinks practically, and 
he works in the same way. His mind is far-reaching and compre- 
hensive in all its bearings, and his action is always taken understand- 
iugly. With great talents for the ministry, he has far more of that 
common-sense and matter-of-fact comprehensiveness in regard to 
mankind than is to be found in most ministers. Hence his success 
in the missionary work in London and elsewhere. He went among 
the humble homes of the poor hand-weavers and others, with no 
moi - e pretension than they had themselves, and with no less interest 
and sympathy with human privations and sorrows. When he ad- 
dressed them from the pulpit, it was not only with the power to 
expound the Scriptures, but with a wonderful insight into the basis 
and motives of character, and the trials and heroism of daily life. It 
is true that he spoke with the intelligence and authority of the or- 
dained preacher of the word of God, but he entered as a friend and 
brother into the sunshine and clouds of their hearts and homes. 
They crowded to hear him, and they loved him. He gave them com- 
forting counsel for this world's burdens, and fanned the fires of faith 
in the better one to come. He was certainly the right man in the 
right place. He made no mistake in regard to the attitude which he 
should assume with regard to such a population. His knowledge of 
human nature, and his olear conceptions of the stern, severe life of 
the laboring classes in Great Britain, enabled him to address him- 
self to the work in a manner most calculated to produce success. 
The religious and moral effects of his efforts will never be lost. The 
work which he commenced so practically is now on an enduring basis. 
The light of the cross which a stranger, coming from another land 
three thousand miles distant across the ocean, first displayed to the 
lowly and benighted, is destined to burn through the present and 
coming generations. In his own land his work is just as earnest and 
successful. All his talents and all his zeal are given unsparingly in 
the cause of the redemption of man. 

401 



REV. FREDERICK OGILBY, D. D., 

ASSISTANT MINISTER OF TRINITY PARISH, 
OPPICIATING AT TRINITY CHURCH. 




EV. DR. FREDERICK OGILBY is one of the assistant 
ministers of Trinity Parish, and officiates at Trinity 
Church. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, December 
27th, 1815. He came to the city of New York before he 
was ten years old. He is the brother of the late Rev. Dr. John 
D. Ogilby, first rector of Columbia College Grammar School, 
Professor of Hebrew at Rutgers College, and Professor of Ecclesias- 
tical History at the Episcopal General Theological Seminary. The 
subject of our notice, after three years of study at Columbia Coll ge, 
spent the last collegiate year at Rutgers College, where he was grad- 
uated in 1836. He occupied himself as a tutor for two years, and then 
entered the middle class of the General Theological Seminary, and 
was graduated in two years. He was first settled over the three 
parishes of Rahway, Woodbridge, and Piscataway, New Jersey, in 
which position he remained a single year : then becoming assistant 
to Rev. Dr. Taylor, at Grace Church, New York, but after one year 
returned to the parishes of Woodbridge and Piscataway. Three 
years later he visited Europe. About this time the law of England, 
forbidding any but the minister ordained within the- realm from 
officiating in the English churches, was repealed, and at the invitation 
of the Rev. Dr. Hooke, vicar of Leeds, Dr. Ogilby preached the first 
lawful sermon by a clergyman of the American Church. Under the 
permission, which has to be obtained of the bishop, two sermons can 
be preached ; and in Dr. Ogilby 's case, he preached his first at that 
time, and the second ten years afterward. Dr. Ogilby has made two 
other visits abroad, and preached repeatedly in both England and 
Ireland. 

On his first return to the United States, he became assistant to 
Bishop Doane of St. Mary's Church, Burlington, and at the termina- 
tion of a little more than a year was called to the church of the As- 

405 



REV. FREDERICK OGILBY, D. D. 

cension, Philadelphia, where he remained fourteen years. In con- 
nection with his rectorship, he edited the Banner of the Cross, a relig- 
ious paper, during seven years of this period. He assumed his 
present position of one of the assistant ministers of Trinity Parish, 
New York, in July, 1856; and has now regularly officiated at 
Trinity Church for a period of seventeen years. His degree of D. D. 
was conferred by Eutgers College a few years subsequent to his 
settlement in New York. His publications consist of occasional ser- 
mons. One of his most impressive discourses was a sermon preached 
on the Sunday morning following the death of Bishop Doane, in St 
Mary's Church, Burlington, which was wholly prepared after the 
funeral service on Saturday. 

Dr. Ogilby is of the average height, with a well-proportioned 
figure. There is considerable studied dignity about him, and he has 
much courtly, ceremonious politeness. His features are regular and 
expressive of intellectual capacity. He is a man of method and 
strict discipline in all the affairs of life, even to the minor and un- 
important matters. 

His manners at all times are those of the cultivated, traveled gen- 
tleman. His diguified reserve is always combined with the utmost 
regard for the great and little observances of politeness and etiquette. 
He is approachable to all, and none can complain that there is any 
want of the civilities which make personal intercourse agreeable ; but 
notwithstanding this, he maintains a barrier of frigid dignity beyond 
a certain point, which none ever pass. His associations in this 
country and abroad have been with the most distinguished and 
learned men of the day, but it is not his reputation either to pi'actice 
or forgive familiarity. 

By following Dr. Ogilby 's career, it is seen that he has occupied 
many excellent and conspicuous positions. His qualifications as a 
scholar undoubtedly entitle him to such exaltations. This apprecia- 
tion by influential circles has been such that there was no difficulty 
in securing it His extensive acquirements and purity of character 
have given him the confidence of his professional contemporaries, and 
his immediate congregations, aware of nis good works, have exhibited 
much attachment for him. His sermons are well written and schol- 
arly productions. In his delivery he is most devout. He most 
worthily fills the position of a clergyman in all its professional and 
social demands. No name stands higher in the Episcopal church, 
and no character is more of an example to his fellow-men, 

406 



REV, WILLIAM ORMISTON, D. D., 

ONE OF THE PASTORS OF THE COLLEGIATE 
BEFORMED CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




EV. DR. WILLIAM ORMISTON was born at the Castle 
Hill farm, in the parish of Symington, Lanarkshire, Scot- 
land, on the banks of the Clyde, April 23d, 1821. His 
father, Mr. Thomas Ormiston, rented the Castle Hill and 
Town Head farms. During his tenth year, the family removed 
to a farm at Hobbie's Howe, near Edinburgh, and the boy at- 
tended school in the village of West Linton, or assisted upon the farm. 
This section is noted for the hallowed scenes of the persecution of the 
Covenanters, and also of the poet, Allan Ramsey's " Gentle Shepherd." 
William found in his mother, a woman of strong intelligence, his con- 
stant guide in study ; she took pains to instruct him, especially in the 
history and popular traditions of the country. In 1834, the family 
emigrated to Canada, and settled in the township of Darlington, about 
thirty miles east of Toronto. " William spent four years on the farm," 
says a biographer, " taking a man's sha,re, though only a boy in years, 
in all the toil, the tear and wear of felling trees; in crop-cutting and 
rolling logs into piles ; in burning the piles, digging, plowing, har- 
rowing, sowing, mowing, harvesting, threshing, and conveying produce 
to market ; making or mending implements of work ; repairing his 
boots or the harness of the horses at hours when others would have 
rested ; yet all the while reading books and acquiring a knowledge of 
arithmetic, mathematics, and Latin, so far as books could assist with- 
out a teacher." 

At lengtl , when in his eighteenth year, his ambition and sense of 
duty to himr elf forced him to the determination to leave home, and 
by some means obtain an education. His father and mother both 
agreed that it was proper for him to do so ; and the former even pro- 
posed to sell a portion of the land to meet the expense of a school and 
college course. William, however, would not consent to this, but, 
without as much as a sixpence or a penny at his command, went to 

•107 






REV. WILLIAM ORMISTON. D. D. 

the town of Whitby and opened a school. It prospered, and he sup- 
ported himself entirely on the fees, while he prepared for entering 
College. In 1843, he became a student at Victoria College, Coburg, 
where he took the degree of B. A. in 1847. During all the time of 
his studies, he filled a tutorship, and for two years occupied the chair 
of Moral Philosophy and Logic. In 1849, he was ordained to the 
Ministry in connection with the Canadian branch of the Scottish 
United Presbyterian church, He became pastor of the church in New- 
ton and Newcastle, and still pursued his studies in the classics, 
theology, and science. He also held the office of Local Superintend- 
ent of Education for the township of Clarke. Removing to Toronto, 
in 1853, he served four years as Mathematical Master, and Lecturer 
on Chemistry and Natural Philosophy in the Normal School. He 
likewise found opportunity to visit almost every point of Upper Can- 
ada, as a speaker on temperance and other kindred moral topics. In 
1855, he was appointed Inspector of grammar schools, first for the 
whole of Canada West, but subsequently for half of that vast area, 
and later he also held the local superintendency of the public schools 
of Hamilton. These positions were finally given up by reason of 
the pressure of other duties and delicacy of health. 

In 1857, he accepted a call, which he bad previously declined, to 
the pastorship of the Central Presbyterian Church of Hamilton. A 
beautiful church was erected for him. He received his degree of D. D. 
from the New York University, in 1860. In 1862, he visited 
Great Britain for the first time since he left it as a boy. He preached 
on several occasions in London, and spoke before the Free Church 
Assembly in Edinburgh. On his return he delivered a series of lec- 
tures descriptive of his travels. Frequently visiting the United 
States, he was heard at public meetings, general assemblies, and con- 
ventions. He was invited to settle in many of the chief cities, and 
in London, England. He declined all these calls, as he was devoted 
to his work in Canada, where his influence and success were equal to 
any public man of the day. He made a second tour in Europe dur- 
ing 1867. In 1870, after thirteen years of labor, he received a call 
to New York, which he deemed it his duty to accept. His congre- 
gation parted with him greatly to their regret. Both himself and 
wife received various valuable tokens of good will. A public break- 
fast was extended to Dr. Ormiston by the citizens of Hamilton, and 
in every quarter his departure from Canada was regarded as a pub- 
lic misfortune. 40 8 



REV. WILLIAM ORMISTON, D. D. 

On Sunday evening, September 11th, 1870, he was installed as one 
of the pastors of the ancient and wealthy Collegiate Reformed church 
of New York, in the church corner of Fifth avenue and Twenty- ninth 
street, which had been specially assigned to him. From the earliest 
period it was the custom of the ministers of the Collegiate church to 
preach in rotation at the different churches of the corporation. On 
the coming of Dr. Ormiston, however, a change was made in this ar- 
rangement. The Rev. Dr. De Witt, after sixty years in the ministry, 
was retired from active service, on a salary of five thousand dollars 
per annum ; Rev. Dr. Chambers assumed entire charge as pastor of 
the Lafayette Place church ; Rev. Dr. Ormiston of the Fifth avenue 
and Twenty-ninth street; Rev. Dr. Ludlow, of the new edifice on the 
corner of Fifth avenue and Forty-eight street; and ihe Rev. Dr. Ver- 
milye is to preach in each church once in five weeks. The real estate 
of the corporation is valued at eight millions of dollars. The preach- 
ing of Dr. Ormiston from the outset drew great crowds, and made the 
same profound impression which it had done in Canada. He also be- 
came an earnest worker in the religious, moral, and philanthropic 
field everywhere. He delivered a series of lectures on " The Import 
and Value of Churches," at the Free Lay Theological College in Brook- 
lyn, and on other subjects before different church associations. In 
1871, he visited the South. In the summer of 1872 he went to Cal- 
ifornia, where he traveled extensively and preached in San Francisco. 
Many of his sermons, lectures, and addresses have appeared in print. 

The striking personal appearance of Dr. Ormiston is well described 
by a newspaper writer in the following language : 

"He is tall, very tall and square, but neither his height nor his figure, nor yet 
his motions arrest your attention when you look into his face, and listen to his de- 
licious voice. There is an honesty of utterance with which the sounds harmonize, 
and make the sweetest of music. His face and head suggest those peculiar photo- 
graphs of the moon, that show a light half which deepens into shadow on the low- 
er edge. His head is a high, smooth dome, around which his hair frizzes to a height 
equal to that of his immense forehead, and it radiates like a halo in every direction. 
It is of extraordinary texture, suggesting a fleecy mass of crimpled floss, in which are 
the daintiest touches of silver. This dark background assists him to a greater sim- 
ilarity to the moon, than his head would furnish if he were bald. His eyebrows are 
like cliffs, which are bordered with furze, and under whose shadows burn unquench- 
able lamps. The distance from his eyes to his lips is unusually great, giving great- 
length to his nose, through which he takes slow, long, and steady respirations. His 
upper lip is also very long, with a deep line in the center; the expression of his 
mouth is both firm and pitiful. His smile is bke sunshine passing over a rocky sur- 
face, and then leaving it in partial gloom again. His chin is massive as becomes a 
face of such great power, and a head of such magnitude. You watch, him, in. bis de- 

409 



EEV. WILLIAM OBMISTON, D. D. 

nunciatory moods, and imagine that he is one of the mills of the Gods, and that hi6 
■words could grind you to powder. At other times he seems like an earnest child, 
whose spirit has taken possession of a giant, and was unchanged in its sweetness and 
tenderness by the huge body it lived in." 

The Kev. Dr. S. I. Prime thus writes of Dr. Ormiston's style and 
power in the pulpit : 

" Thoroughly orthodox after the Scotch pattern, and with just a little Scotch ac- 
cent and brogue, he pours out a stream of glowing, earnest, strong, old-fashioned, 
gospel truth, with now and then a quaint, half-humorous illustration, yet beating 
down all cavil and objection with the arm of logical force and all the points of Scrip- 
ture proof, and sweeping along on the tide of resistless eloquence, he carries the judg- 
ment and feelings of the people with him, until they are compelled to admit the over- 
whelming force of the mighty truths of the great message. Yet with all this tre- 
mendous energy of manner, and elective nervous power, flashing in his noble black 
eye, working in his graceful gesticulation, and leaping out in the clarion tones of 
his well modulated voice, he is mild and soothing in his gentle moods, touching the 
heart-strings with sweet, plaintive, tender tones and words, his own eyes filling with 
tears as his hearers wept with him, under the spell of his pathetic appeals." 

The editor of the New York Independent says of Dr. Ormiston : 

" Some of his sentences are very fine. Speaking of procrastination, he said of 
Herod. ' He heard John gladly and asked to see Christ ; he mocked the one and be- 
headed the other.' As he uttered it, this sentence thrilled the whole audience. 
His epithets are often capital. One climax of denunciation was capped with, ' double- 
minded, world-grasping, Christ-catching Christians.' To the half-hearted he said 
again : ' As it is, you're but a miserable servant of the devil, for he hasn't over 
half your heart. And with the utmost solemnity he said : ' All that is necessary to 
do to be damned, is to stand still.' We cannot possibly give on paper, any idea of 
the half-droll and half-solemn way in which he said : 'Ephraim is joined to his 
idols ; let him alone. How many are there of that tribe here to-night ?' Nor of the 
directness with which he shot out an arrow at ' gray-haired sinners nodding over 
the tomb. ' Many passages were dramatic and full of picturesqueness ; all of his ef- 
fective utterances are indescribable. Perhaps the finest climax of the sermon was 
when he uttered in his peculiar and almost thunderous way this sentence : ' There's 
not an atheistic atom in the universe,' and then, springing forward, he added, 'and 
there's not a silent conscience in this house.' In the silence that followed, it seem- 
ed that tne very rafters were crying out as witnesses for God." 

We have selected these extracts to show from different sources 
the high praise which has been accorded of Dr. Ornrston. 

It is true, as they make evident, that in appearance, talents, man- 
ners, and impressiveness. both in and out of the pulpit, he is a most 
extraordinary man. He stands bold and distinctive in his own in- 
dividuality, and in his influence over the human mind Consequently, 
he readily arrests public attention, and upholds the banner of faith 
with the arm of a giant However heedless he may be personally 
of fame, his glorious work has secured it to him imperishably, and 
the history of the American church will record him as foremost 

among its distinguished and faithful members. 

410 





C^g^^^t) 



REY. ABRAHAM C. OSBORN, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE SOUTH BAPTIST CHT7KCH, 
NEW YORK. 




,EV. BR. ABEAHAM C. OSBORN was born at Scotch 
Plains, New Jersey, (where his ancestors had resided from 
the earliest settlement of the country,) February 20th, 1831. 
He is the eighth child of Jonathan and Amelia Osborn. The 
following account is given of his early home : " Beacon 
^9 Jonathan Osborn, the father of Br. Osborn, was a farmer in 
easy circumstances ; but he preserved with great tenacity all the 
habits of industry to which the farmers in New Jersey, in the days of 
his youth, had been disciplined. Hard and continuous labor was the 
rule with his household, and to it all his children were faithfully trained. 
But neither he nor his wife ever for a moment lost sight of the future 
of their children, or ceased to study what would best develop them 
for future prosperity or usefulness. The farm upon which they lived 
comprised but seventy acres of land — not sufficient to settle a family 
about them. Having always an aversion to placing their children to 
learn any of the trades, they concluded to remove to a newer country, 
where more land could be procured, and the children could have a 
larger field for development, and greater physical and mental free- 
dom, in a less densely populated country. In May, 1842, he removed 
to the town of Wilna, Jefferson county, New York, where he settled 
upon a large and new farm. Here it was that the youthful training 
of Br. Osborn took place. Three daughters and three sons were then 
living. With unflinching industry the family labored together to 
open to cultivation a tract of land, nearly all of which was primitive 
forest, and transform it into a fine and highly productive dairy farm. 
Under this training Br. Osborn, with his brothers, became an able and 
skillful farmer, and developed a physical strength and powers of en- 
durance that contributed largely to his future success." 

411 



BEY. ABRAHAM C. OSBORN, D.D. 

Young Osborn, however, was always restless in the narrow 
sphere in which he found himself, and at length concluded to make 
the venture of securing a liberal education, depending upon his own 
bead and hands only to secure his success. In August, 1849, at the 
age of eighteen, he left the old log-house, where he had passed seven 
years of his youth, and entered the academy at Carthage, in the same 
county. He remained one term, and then taught, for the winter, a 
district school in West Carthage. In the spring of 1850, he entered 
the Couverneur Wesleyan Seminary, where he continued until the 
summer of 1851. In August of that year, he was entered as a Fresh- 
man in the Madison University, Hamilton, New York. " When Dr. 
Osborn," says a statement, "left home to enter Gouverneur Seminary, 
he was without a dollar in the world. He entered into an engagement 
to serve as janitor, building all the fires, carrying food, and sweeping 
all the rooms in a large academy, to pay for tuition and books. He 
also sawed, split, and loaded wood for a villager, in return for his 
board. These engagements, sufficient in themselves to fully occupy 
a strong man, were faithfully carried out for two academic terms, 
During the summer vacation he worked by the mouth in the hay- 
field for a compensation of twenty dollars per month, and thus earned 
means to carry him through the last two terms of his stay in the 
Seminary, without doing further duty as janitor, or the work of a day 
laborer, for his board. Yet, notwithstanding these severe labors, he 
stood first in all his studies, and entered the University one year in 
advance of any other member of a large class that began their pre- 
parations for college at the same time." 

Dr. Osborn united with the Baptist church, at North Wilna, on 
the 22d of March, 1850, and from that time determined to devote 
himself to the Christian ministry. His ancestors had, as far back as 
the information of the family extends, been prominent as members 
and officers of the Baptist church. The office of deacon had been 
held in an unbroken succession, in the direct line of his ancestors, for 
a full century. 

Several facts go to show the superiority and thoroughness of Dr. 
Osborn's scholarship, even at this early period. During the entire 
Sophomore year he had charge of the education of two; sons of Dr. 
Adoniram Judson, and for this purpose was a member of the family 
of Mrs. Emily C. Judson, so well known as an authoress. He was 
acting Professor of Latin in Hamilton Academy during his junior 
year, and tutor in Latin in Madison University during his senior year. 

412 



REV. ABRAHAM C. OSBORN, D.D. 

The duties of these positions were all performed while maintaining 
the first rank in his own studies. He was graduated in August, 1855, 
at the age of twenty-four years, standing second to none in his class. 
In October, 1855. he took the position of teacher of mathematics in 
the High School at Columbia, South Carolina, where he remained 
one year. Anxious to prosecute further his studies for the ministry, 
he refused great inducements to remain longer. In October, 1856, he 
entered Hamilton Theological Seminary, and there devoted two 
years to the study of theology. He was graduated in August, 1858, 
with high honors, and at the same time received from the University 
the degree of Master of Arts. He received the degree of D. D. from 
Shurtleff College, at Alton, Illinois, in June, 1868. 

It is mentioned of Dr. Osborn that while thus prosecuting his 
own studies, and earning for himself the means to enable him to do 
so, he lent his aid, which was continued for several years, to a 
younger brother, Thomas W. Osborn, who was seeking to obtain a 
liberal education. In 1868, this brother, having been a successful 
volunteer artillery officer during the war, was elected to a seat in the 
United States Senate from the State of Florida. In the same manner, 
Dr. Osborn aided a younger sister, now Mrs. Dr. Samuel L. Merrill, 
of Carthage, New York, who was educated at the Hamilton Female 
Seminary. 

On the 19th of September, 1858, Dr. Osborn became the pastor 
of the Jefferson Street Baptist Church, in Louisville, Ky. He was 
ordained a minister of the Gospel, October 21st, 1858. In a little 
over four years the church doubled its membership. His popularity 
was further demonstrated by invitations to preach and lecture in 
different parts of the country. For two years he represented the 
Twelfth Ward of the City of Louisville in the Board of Education. 
In June, 1861, he went to Europe, where he spent seven months in 
visiting the German universities and perfecting himself in the German 
language. 

Immediately after his return, on the 20th of December, 1861, he 
was married to Sarah E. Matthews, of Louisville, a lady of high 
culture, elegant address, and a devoted Christian. She died August 
20th, 1868, leaving an only son. 

In December, 1862, he accepted a call to the pastorship of the 
Fourth Baptist Church in St Louis, Missouri, whither he at once 
removed. The church had a total membership of fifty-nine, but 
when he left it, six years afterward, for the purpose of a second visit 

413 



REV. ABRAHAM C. OSBORN, D. D. 

to Europe, there were four hundred and fifty communicanta While 
in St. Louis he interested himself much in efforts for the poor. He 
founded the Home Savings Bank, and was one of its Board of Di- 
rectors. In 1867 he declined the Presidency of the New Hampton 
Literary and Theological Institute at Fairfax, Vermont, to which he 
had been unanimously elected. In February, 1869, he resigned the 
charge of the Fourth Church, and proceeded on a rapid, but extended 
tour in Europe. In December, 1869, he accepted a call to the 
Tabernacle Baptist Church of Brooklyn, N. Y., where he remained 
until about the close of 1873. He next entered upon his present 
pastorship at the South Baptist Church in West Twenty-fifth street, 
New York City, where he is pursuing the same successful work 
which has characterized him in other places. 

He has always been a devoted and efficient laborer in the Sabbath 
Schools, connected with his various churches. In St. Louis, he 
raised a school of two hundred and fifty scholars to two thousand 
enrolled members, with one thousand one hundred in average atten- 
dance, his own Bible class numbering over one hundred. 

Dr. Osborn has an intellectual face, and most agreeable manners. 
In private and social life he is greatly admired. He is not only ready 
in the use of the learned languages — the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew — 
but speaks the German, and reads most of the languages of modern 
Europe. " In his sermons/' says a well-informed writer, "and in all 
his public efforts, Dr. Osborn shows the thorough preparation of the 
scholar and remarkable familiarity with whatever subject he may 
treat, never permitting himself to attempt a subject with which he 
has not previously familiarized himself. His address is easy, and his 
style of delivery fluent. His most noticeable characteristic as a 
speaker is the unusual distinctness with which each word and syllable 
is uttered — so distinctly, indeed, that to the attentive listener no 
syllable of an entire discourse is lost. He also appears unwilling to 
brook any difference of opinion from his hearers. He speaks as if to 
command conviction and assent, and yet he is not offensively dog- 
matic. His entire self-reliance is always noticeable. His mode of 
thought is of the full and comprehensive order. He seizes his theme 
in its fullness, and comprehends the subject as a whole ; and devel- 
ops and delineates until the whole matter is laid before his hearers, 
like a finely engraved map or a picture." 

414 



REV. SAMUEL OSGOOD, D. D., 

LATE PASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE 
MESSIAH, NEW YORK!. 




EV. DK. SAMUEL OSGOOD was born in Charlestown, 
Mass., August 30th, 1812. He was graduated at Har- 
vard College in 1832, and at Cambridge Divinity School 
in 1835. Two years were occupied in traveling and 
preaching, when, in 1837, he was ordained pastor of the 
Unitarian church in Nashua, N. H. In 1841 he was called to 
Providence, R I. ; and in 1849 to the Church of the Messiah, New 
York, where he officiated, with great acceptability and success, for 
about twenty years. Difficulties in the congregation, arising from 
the building of a costly edifice in the upper portion of the city, 
finally led to the resignation of Dr. Osgood. He went to Europe, 
and soon after his return took orders in the Episcopal church. He 
received the degree of D. D. from Harvard, in 1857. His publica- 
tions are numerous. In 1839 and 1842 he published translations 
from Olshausen and De Wilt — "The History of Passion," and " Hu- 
man Life ;" in 1851, " Studies in Christian Biography ;" in 1854, 
" " The Hearthstone " and '' Cod with Men ;" in 1855, " Milestones in 
our Life Journey;" and in 1860, " Student Life." During 1836 and 
'37 he was editor of the Western Messenger, published in Louisville, 
and from 1850 to '54 of the Christian Enquirer, issued in New York. 
He has also written largely in the reviews and monthly magazines, 
and printed many sermons, orations, and speeches. His discourse at 
the Meadville Theological School, on " The Coming Church and its 
Clergy," in 1850, and his oration before the alumni of Harvard, at 
President Felton's inauguration, in 1860, are the most noted. He is 
the Corresponding Secretary of the New York Historical Society, and 
is greatly interested in all educational and literary interests. 

Dr. Osgood is about the average height, and well-proportioned ; 
his complexion is inclined to be sallow, and the whiskers, which he 
wears around his whole face, are tinged with gray. His head is in- 
tellectual, and his countenance betokens kindness and amiability. 

115 



EEV. SAMUEL OSGOOD. D. D. 

He is noted for his gentlemanly bearing, mildness of manners, and 
conscientious life. Study is his greatest delight, and his classical 
and literary attainments are of a high order. His writings are care- 
fully composed, fertile of imagination, and sometimes florid in lan- 
guage. He is a fluent speaker, and argumentative ; but there is no 
dryness — on the contrary, a glowing eloquence. He is of a poetic 
nature, has a strong sense of the beautiful, and is passionately fond 
of music, particularly that of a sacred character ; and these and 
kindred elements are governing influences in molding his thoughts 
and directing his habits. His sermons are characterized by exceed- 
ing clearness of meaning, interesting historical details, if the subject 
admits of it, and an ardent fancv. Doctrine, metaphysical theories, 
moral questions, and to some extent political topics, all receive his 
attention, and are discussed in a manner which shows diligent re- 
search, depth of thought, and sincere conviction. He argues calmly 
but forcibly, and evidently relies rather upon the potency of his 
logic than any charm of his eloquence. Althoirgh an orator, and the 
possessor of a voice which is as soft and sweetly winning as that of a 
woman, still he prefers to encounter the intelligence of the hearer, 
where other men appeal to the feelings. He wants his great truths 
comprehended and accepted, and counts it but poor success to gain 
the melting eye alone. Thus he piles fact upon fact, fortifies witli 
the treasures of his research, and bombards with logic which comes 
forth gilded by the touch of imagination. You think he is leading 
you with a thread of silk, but before he closes you find it is an iron 
chain. 

Dr. Osgood is a very practical theologian. He considers that 
religion must be adapted to the nature of man, as well as that nature 
subjected to its government. Instead of obliging the weary pilgrim 
to stumble among stones and grow faint in deserts, he would tempt 
his advance by the murmurings of nrusic and the sight of flowering 
fields. A genial, common-sense, practical church life is, in the 
opinion of Dr. Osgood, the best means of making converts. His 
style of oratory is subdued, but he is forcible and sincere throughout 
He fixes the attention in the beginning, and moves along in a man- 
ner so scholarly, graphic, poetic, and eloquent, that no word is al- 
lowed to be lost. His voice is always musical, and in some passages 
strikingly mellow and tender. When he closes, you feel as at those 
times when interrupted in some pleasant reading, or when the strains 

of music die away which have lulled you into waking dreams. 

416 



KEY. JOHN A. PADDOCK, 



RECrOB OF ST. JRETIER'S DET»ISCOI»A.ILi CHUECH, 

BROOKLYN. 




EV. JOHN A. PADDOCK was born at Norwich, Con- 
necticut, January 19th, 1825. He was graduated at 
Trinity College, Hartford, in 1845, and at the Espiscopal 
General Theological Seminary, New York, in 1849. 
Taking orders the same year, he was called to Christ Church, 
Stratford, Conn., where he remained over five years. In 1855 
he became rector of St. Peter's Church, Brooklyn, then located on 
the corner of Atlantic and Bond streets. Daring the following year 
the congregation commenced the erection of a new church edifice in 
State street, near Bond, which was opened for divine service January 
6th, 1857. 

This structure was planned by the late Frank Mills, and is one 
of the most tasteful among the many fine edifices of the kind in the 
City of Churches. It consists of nave and chancel, with north and 
south aisles and vestibule. The nave is eighty -five feet by fifty-eight, 
and there is seating room for eight hundred persons. The roof rests 
on iron arches, the pillars are pine, the panels of the ceiling are 
plastered, and the seats and furniture are of chestnut. The south 
front has two turrets, one on either side of the nave gable. Between 
the turrets is a vestibule and stairway, projecting some few feet in 
front in the main wall. The doorway projects in front of the vestibule 
screen, and with its rich gabled pediment, forms a striking feature of 
the work. A beautiful blue granite and the Caen stone are used in 
the exterior walls. The cost of the ground and edifice was forty 
thousand dollars. 

In 1871 the prosperity of the congregation led to a second fine 
improvement. This was the erection of a Sunday School building 
on lots adjoining the church, at an outlay of about forty-five thousand 
dollars. The structure is in keeping with the architecture of the 

417 



REV. JOHN A. PADDOCK. 

church, and the interior is greatly admired for its beauty, convenience, 
and adaptation for the purpose for which it was designed. 

The congregation is composed of about two hundred families and 
five hundred communicants. More than five hundred children are 
under instruction in the Sunday School. A Mission Sunday School 
is maintained in Wyckoff street 

Mr. Paddock is slightly under the medium height, and equally 
proportioned. He has a round head of the average size, with an in- 
telligent face of most amiable and modest expression. As he walks 
along the street he has a habit of looking downward, and at all times 
exhibits a retiring air. He dresses in a clerical garb, and his whole 
manner is that of humility and propriety. He is a man of extensive 
learning, of rare judgment in the pastoral work, and greatly valued 
throughout the church for both his ability and success. His sermons 
are fine specimens of clear, common sense diction, and are delivered 
with marked sincerity of personal feeling. 

Mr. Paddock is well known in his parish. He is very attentive 
to all his duties, and makes himself personally familiar with his own 
people. His life is so meritorious, and his manners so agreeable, that 
he is greatly beloved. The poor and afflicted find in him a constant 
visitor and sympathizing friend. He loves the lowly walks and the 
places where he can dispense the comforts of his religion. He is not 
a man who thinks of dignity or discomfort, but ever goes forth in all 
humbleness, and in total disregard of every thing save duty. From 
these labors, which are best known and appreciated by his own con- 
gregation, he has drawn about him the considerable body of wor- 
shipers at St. Peter's. They work together harmoniously and suc- 
cessfully, and the parish, after being in a feeble condition for many 
years, is now one of the most flourishing in Brooklyn. The district 
has a growing population of well-to-do and intelligent people. 

There can be nothing but commendation of Mr. Paddock in re- 
garding him as a diligent, conscientious worker in the cause of his 
faith. His meekness of disposition adds to the beauty of a censure- 
less life, and at the same time makes even more conspicuous his 
Christian uprightness. No man is more highly valued for talent and 
experience by his brethren of the ministry in all denominations. 
Faithful in his work, he is not without earthly fame, nor can he be 
without the heavenly reward. 418 



RIGHT REY. BENJAMIN H. PADDOCK, D. D., 

BISHOP OF MASSACHUSETTS) EATE HECTOR 
OF GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, BROOKLYN. 




IGHT EEV. DR. BENJAMIN H. PADDOCK, D. D., 

was born at Norwich, Connecticut, February 29th, 1828. 
He is a younger brother of the Rev. John A. Paddock, 
rector of St. Peter's Episcopal church, Brooklyn. He was 
graduated at Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, in August, 
1848. After serving for one year as an assistant teacher at the 
Connecticut Episcopal Academy, Cheshire, he entered the general 
Theological Seminary, New York, in September, 18-49, and was grad- 
uated in June, 1852. He was ordained deacon on St. Peter's day, 
June 29th, 1852, at Christ church, Stratford, Connecticut, by Bishop 
Brownell, and priest in September, 1853, in Trinity church, Norwich, 
by Bishop "Williams. Most of his deaconate was spent as assistant 
to the Rev. Dr. Lot Jones, at Epiphany church, New York city. In 
April, 1853, he accepted charge of St. Luke's church, Portland, Maine, 
but withdrew, from ill-health after three months, and became rector 
of Trinity church, Norwich, in August, 1853. He became rector of 
Christ church, Detroit, Michigan, in February, 1860, where he re- 
mained until he accepted the rectorship of Grace church, Brooklyn 
Heights, in May, 1869. 

While still in this rectorship, on the 15th of May, 1873, Dr. Pad- 
dock was elected Bishop of Massachusetts. He accepted the office 
in a letter, dated June 4th, 1873, in which he remarks : — 

" I am not unmindful of the great honor conferred upon me, nor ungrateful for the 
confidence reposed in me by this election. 1 have not sought, but I dare not decline 
it ; and yet, as I recall the learning, wisdom, zeal, and saintliness which have 
adorned the Episcopate of your historic diocese, I cannot help standing humbled 
and oppressed by a sense of insufficiency and unworthiness. I can bring to such 
an honored succession little more than an unfeigned longing and purpose to con- 
secrate all that is within me, ' to the edifying of Christ's church, wid to the honor, 
praise, and glory of His name.' But it cheers me to think that if loving thoughts 
and prayers and appreciation on the part of a chief pastor, for all who are striving 

419 



RIGHT EEV. BENJAMIN H. PADDOCK, D. D. 

together for the faith of the gospel in the church's ways and works, may only be met 
by generous love and confidence and prayerful co-operation, then, even thus, with- 
out other and greater conditions of success, the Holy Ghost, the Lord and giver of 
life, can mightily work through His ministry and people, and the church can 
grow up unto Christ, who is the Head in all things, and can make glorious increase 
of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." 

The consecration of the new Bishop took place at Grace church, 
Brooklyn, on Wednesday, September 17th, 1873. 

Biskop Paddock is of the average height, sparely made and erect 
He has light complexion, hair, and eyes. The face is long, with 
a full, high brow, and has an expression of composure and amiabil 
ity. His manners are quiet and courteous. Judging him by cas- 
ual observation, and knowing him by long acquaintance is to find 
his disposition and talents altogether the same. There is no change, 
no policy, and no affectation about either his conduct or speech. He 
shows what order of person he is on the instant ; and he is the same 
at all other times. If you are the stranger or slight acquaintance, 
he talks with you in that sincere, friendly way, which puts both on the 
most agreeable footing at once. And if you are the old and valued 
friend, why it is the same frank, genial grasp of the hand, and earn- 
est welcome of the heart, which have delighted you from the begin- 
ning. And all this is most natural in speech and action, evidently 
springing simply from the true habit and motives of the man. No 
personal character can be more beautiful, more admired, or more in- 
fluential. 

As a preacher, Bishop Paddock is one who always appears in the sa- 
cred desk after scholarly and prayerful preparation. He feels his great 
responsibility, and he makes this evident to every hearer. Hence, 
his solemnly uttered words have full weight, and his occasional out- 
bursts of eloquent and pathetic appeal are not less effective. Writ- 
ing with strength and clearness, particularly the doctrined subjects, 
he speaks with tones and gestures, which add force to his language. 
No person can fail to understand him, and few can long remain indif- 
ferent to his calls to grace. In all the duties of the rector he is con- 
scientious, faithful, and experienced. Too modest and devout to be a 
mere seeker for fame, still he is winning it by the force of works 
which cannot go unobserved. 

420 



REV. ALFRED H. PARTRIDGE, 

RECTOR OF CHBI8T CHURCH, BROOKLYN, (IE. O.) 




•EV. ALFBED H. PABTEIDGE was born at Hatfield, 
Massachusetts, December 14th, 1811. His early academic 
studies were at Hadley, in the same State. Having taken 
^S^^ ' a course of private instruction in the collegiate branches. 
\£§) he entered the Episcopal General Theological Seminary, New 
««3 York, where he was graduated in June, 1838. He was made 
deacon at St Mark's Church, New York, by Bishop Onderdonk, 
July 1st, 1838, and priest at St. Matthew's Church, Bedford, West- 
chester county, by the same Bishop July 20th, 1839. He became 
assistant of the Eev. Samuel Nichols at St. Matthew's Church, but 
after one year was himself called to the rectorship, in which he re- 
mained during a period of seventeen years. The increase of the Epis- 
copalians and the erection of new churches of the denomination in 
that section of Westchester county is largely due to the efforts of Mr. 
Partridge. He was instrumental in the organization of St. Luke's 
Church, at Somers ; St. Mary's, at North Castle ; St. John's, at Lewis 
borough ; and St. Mark's at Katonah, all of which are flourishing 
churches at this time. In May, 1855, he commenced the duties of 
his present rectorship at Christ Church, in the Eastern District of 
Brooklyn, which he has now discharged for more than eighteen years. 
This parish was organized in 1846, and grew out of St. Mark's 
parish. The Eev. Charles Eeynolds was the first rector, but up to 
the time when Mr. Partridge came the parish was small and feeble. 
Worship was held in a small wooden building on South sixth street, 
which was subsequently sold for one hundred dollars. Mr. Partridge 
at once threw his accustomed energy into his work, and the parish 
has now grown to be one of the. most important in Brooklyn. Just 
at the opening of the war, the erection of a splendid stone church 
edifice was undertaken on a very eligible site on Bedford avenue, 
donated by the Boerum family. This structure was opened on the 

first Sunday before Christmas, 1863, and cost about fifty thousand 

421 



REV. ALFRED H. PARTRIDGE. 

dollars. It is a very superior building, being large, and constructed 
in the best manner, and its fittings and adornment are of the most 
costly, elaborate, and tasteful character. An elegant dwelling in 
Ross street has been purchased for a rectory. 

Mr. Partridge is about the medium height, equally proportioned, 
and active in his movements. His head is round, with regular feat- 
ures, and he has light hair and whiskers. His face shows intelligence 
and shrewdness of observation, and his manners exhibit impulsiveness 
and energy. As a business man he would have made a mark in any 
occupation, for he has all the judgment, tact, and enterprise which are 
necessary to success in worldly affairs. In the building up of his 
parish, and in carrying forward their recent operations in constructing 
a new church, he has displayed an energy, an adaptation of means to 
ends, a spirit to overcome obstacles, and a business capacity, which 
have been quite omnipotent in their way. 

Had Mr. Partridge been less of a practical business man, it is 
probable that his parish would not now have been in existence. 
When he took hold of it, there were not only long unpaid debts but 
no means to discharge them. The whole work of the Lord was about 
to come to a stand-still simply for the want of business talents and 
energy to raise money and elevate a defaulting and bankrupt church 
into an honest and thriving parish. Praying and waiting, without 
something more, would not do. It required the same kind of striving 
which hard run merchants make every day, and that kind of practical 
calculation and exertion which spring from the business mind. 

Look at the results. The old tottering church building has passed 
away, and a magnificent structure has appeared, and the scene of 
the humble, impoverished congregation has merged into the great 
throng of influential people who now compose the parish. A super- 
ficial, inexperienced rector would have been the means of allowing 
the light of this enterprise to go out forever ; but the nerve and busi- 
ness capacity of Mr. Partridge has fanned it into a blaze of prosperity 
which has few parallels in church history. 

His qualifications for the spiritual work are not less conspicuous. 
He is polite and genial in his manners, and has excellent conversa- 
tional powers. In both public and private life he has characteristics 
which render him extremely popular with all persons. He is ad- 
mired and beloved for his consistent, pure life, for his spirit of self- 
sacrifice, and for his bold, earnest efforts in the line of his duty. 

422 



REV. WILLIAM M. PAXTON, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE FTJtST PRE8BYTERIAN 
CIITJRCH, KEW YORK:. 




EV. DR WILLIAM M. PAXTON was bora in Adams 
county, near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, June 7th, 1824. 
The locality now made immortal by one of the great 
^MS^ 3 martial contests of the late war, was the familiar scene of 
O his youthful recreations. He was graduated at Pennsylvania 
^£g College in L843, and afterward studied law with Judge George 
Chambers, of Chambersburg, and Alexander Stephenson, of Gettys- 
burg. On the eve of his admission to the bar he was converted, 
and, having united with the church, he determined to study for the 
ministry. He entered Princeton Theological Seminary, and graduated 
in 1848. In the spring of the previous year he had been licensed 
as a minister of the Presbyterian Church by the Presbytery of 
Carlisle, and in the fall of 1848 he was ordained and installed as 
pastor of the Presbyterian church at Greencastle, Franklin county, 
Pennsylvania, where he remained two years. In the fall of 1850 he 
was called to the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburg, and was 
installed early in January, 1851. This church was under the pastoral 
care of the late Rev. Dr. Francis Herron, one of the most learned 
and distinguished clergyman of the west, for the long period of thirty- 
nine years. Dr. Herron resigned his pastorship in December, 1850, 
and Dr. Paxton was called as his successor. During the subsequent 
ten years up to the death of Dr. Herron, the closest relations existed 
between the officiating and retired pastors as ministers, Christians, 
and friends, each giving evidence of the most exalted regard for the 
other. Dr. Paxton thus speaks of his intimate and affectionate 
association with Dr. Herron : "I never met a frown from his brow ; 
never heard an unkind word from his lips ; never felt a single jar in 
our intercourse ; never was a moment trammeled or embarrassed in 
my personal or ministerial actions by anything that he said. On the 
other hand, he was a friend, who stood by me in every extremity ; a 

423 



REV. WILLIAM M. PAITON, D. D. 

counsellor, ever ready with the wisdom of age and experience ; a 
comforter, full of tenderest sympathy ; a defender, who would stand 
forth and receive reproach himself rather than it should fall upon 
me. 

Dr. Paxton remained with the First Church of Pittsburg for 
fifteen years, when he was called to a field equally important in the 
city of New York. In the spring of 1865, Rev. Dr. William W. 
Phillips, for many years pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of 
New York city, departed this life, and Dr. Paxton was invited to 
assume pastoral relations with this influential and wealthy congrega- 
tion. Having accepted the call, he was installed in January, 1866. 

"We draw from a sermon preached by Dr. Phillips, at the opening 
of the new church of the First Congregation in Fifth Avenue, the 
following interesting historical details regarding the Presbyterian 
Church in New York. 

" The first movement which led to the organization of a Presbyterian congrega- 
tion in New York was in January, 1707. Prior to that period a few Presbyterians 
had assembled for worship in a private house, being without a minister. Two min- 
isters of the faith, named Francis McKemmie and John Hampton, from the eastern 
shore of Maryland, now visited New York on their way to Boston, and application 
was made to the Consistory of the Dutch Church for the use of their place of wor- 
ship, that these clergymen migh' preach. Permission was given by the Consistory, 
but that of Lord Cornbury, the governor of the province, was also requisite, and it 
was refused. Mr. McKemmie, however, preached in a private house in Pearl street, 
and baptized a child. The performance of these ministrations, without a license 
from the governor, resulted in the arrest of both Mr. McKemmie and his companion, 
who were brought before his lordship, and by his order thrown into prison. After 
two mont's of confinement they were brought before the chief justice by a writ of 
habeas corpus, and Mr. Hampton, not having preached, was discharged, and Mr. 
McKemmie admitted to bail. The latter returned from Virginia in June, to answer 
his prosecution before a civil court, where he was acquitt' d by a jury, but was ob- 
liged to pay costs to the amount of £83, 7s. 6d. In 1717 John Nicholl, Patrick 
McKnight, Gilbert Livingston, and Thomas Smith, with a few other, organized a 
congregation, and called as their minister the Rev. James Anderson, a native of 
Scotland, but at the time a member of the Presbytery of Philadelphia. Worship 
was held in the City Hall, at the corner of Nassau and Wall streets, the use of which 
was granted by the corporation of the city. In 1718 a lot was purchased in Wall 
street, and in the following year a church edifice was erected. Money was collected 
in Connecticut and in Scotland for the new enterprise. In 1 720, application was 
made for a charter, the granting of which was successfully opposed by the Vestry 
of Trinity Church, at this time and at other periods, for more than half a century. 
Having no prospect of obtaining a charter by which they might enjoy, as an incor- 
porate body, a right to their church and cemetery, and alarmed by what had occurred 
at Jamaica, Long Island, where the property of the Presbyterians had been actually 
taken from them by the Episcopalians, they invested the fee of their church and 
ground in the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Subsequent to the 

424 






EEV. WILLIAM M. PA XT ON, D. D. 

revolution the property was reconveyed to the trustees of the church. The church 
was enlarged in 1748. The following inscription was placed in the wall over the 
magistrate's pew: 'Under the auspices of George II., King of Great Britain, 
Patron of the Church, and Defender of the Faith.' Eev. David Boftwick was called 
to the church in 1756, and early in his ministry a portion of the members seceded 
and formed the First Associate Beformed Church in Cedar street, now the Scotch 
Presbyterian Church in Grand street. In 1765 the Kev. John Rodgers was installed, 
when the church was revived, prospered, and greatly increased. A lot was obtained 
from the corporation on the corner of Nassau and Beekman streets, on which a new 
building was erected, and dedicated in January, 1768. 

"Most of the members of the First Church and their ministers went into exile 
during the Revolution. On their return, they found their churches had been dese- 
crated and left in an injured and ruinous state. The parsonage house belonging to 
the church had been burned. The Vestry of Trinity Church, now unsolicited, 
offered the Presbyterians the use of St. Paul's and St. George's Churches until their 
own might be repaired. At a later period, a lot of ground on Robinson street was 
donated for the use of the Presbyterian senior minister. In fact, the Episcopalians 
in a minority, as they were after the war, were a very different people than when in a 
majority. The Brick Church was re-opened in June, 1784, and the church in Wall 
street in the following year. In 1798, a third Presbyterian Church was opened in 
Rutger street ; in later days under the charge of Dr. Krebs. In 1807, a colony from 
the Wall street church and from the Brick Church, with others who were unable to 
obtain pews in either, purchased ground and built the Cedar street church. The 
churches were separated and became independent of each other in 1809, each having 
their own pastor, except that Dr. Rogers continued his pastoral relations to the First 
and Brick Churches. During 1809-10, the Wall street church was rebuilt ; the old 
materials being used for building another church in Spring street in part. A sep- 
aration of the Wall street and Brick Churches was effected by mutual consent. 
Dr. Rogers died in May, 1811, leaving Dr. Miller, who became a colleague in 1792, 
sole pastor, which he retained until 1813, when he became one of the professors at 
Princeton Theological Seminary. In 1815, Rev. Philip M. Whelpley accepted a 
call to the church, but was removed by death, in July, 1824. He was succeeded by 
Dr. Phillips, in January, 1826. In 1834, the church was partially destroyed by fire, 
but was immediately rebuilt and re-opened in 1835. In May, 1844, the building 
was vacated and removed to Jersey City, where it is used for the purpose for which 
it was originally built. The corner-stone of a new edifice, to be erected on the cor- 
ner of Fifth avenue and Eleventh and Twelfth streets, was laid in September of the 
same year, and the first service was held January lltb, 1846. The church is 
constructed of brown free-stone, and is one of the most imposing in New York, and 
the congregation is among the most wealthy." 

The statistics of the Presbyterian denomination in the United 
States for 1872, show that its number of churches is 4,730 ; minis- 
ters, 4,441 ; communicants, 468,164, and Sunday school members, 
485,762, and their contributions during the year amount to 
$10,086,526, being an increase of $1,003,117 on those of the previous 
year. 

In 1860 Dr. Paxton was called to a chair of theology in the 

Western Theological Seminary at Alleghany City, which he still 

425 



REV. WILLIAM M. PAXTON, D. D. 

holds, in addition to his pastoral duties. He received his degree 
of D. D. from Jefferson College in 1853. He has published a 
"Memorial of Eev. Francis Herron, D. D." containing two sermons? 
and various other occasional sermons. We take the following ex- 
tract from one of the memorial sermons : 

"Elijah, the prophet father, and Elisha, the prophet son, were bound together 
by no ordinary ties of endearment. "When it became manifest to the old prophet 
that he must ere long retire from his sacred office, and it was indicated that Elisha 
should fill his vacant place, Elijah sought him, and, throwing his mantle upon him, 
indicated and installed him as his successor. Accordingly, Elisha bade farewell to 
the home of his youth, and crossed the mountains of Gilead to take part in the 
ministry of the old prophet, and to comfort and cheer him with the ready offices of 
kindness and affection. From that time they lived and labored together in the in- 
timacy of a harmonious fellowship and reciprocated attachment. It was no ordinary 
friendship that bound them to each other. They had one interest, one aim, one 
motive, one sphere of blessed, holy, consecrated action ; but deeper than this was 
the affinity of congenial temperament, the unity of kindred sympathies, the harmo- 
ny of feelings strung to the same key, and, deeper still, the affiance of grace, the 
common experience of the love of God, the endearing intimacy of spiritual fellow- 
ship and communion which bound them together heart and soul, wedding youth 
and age with a bond of perfectness. 

"The life of Elijah was spared longer than he seemed first to anticipate. It was 
doubtless so ordered in mercy to Elisha. He Deeded the experience of age to direct 
him, and the wisdom and instructions of the old prophet to prepare and mature 
him for his future responsibilities. For a period of about ten years this happy asso- 
ciation and co-operation in the work of God continued ; but now at last the time 
arrived when they must part, Eli'ah to ascend into glory, and Elisha to bear the 
responsibilities of the i-acred office alone. 

"When it became known in the school of the prophets at Jericho that Elijah 
was about to finish his earthly career, it awakened such a painful interest among the 
young men in training there for the work of God, that a band of fifty followed after 
the two prophets as they took their course toward the Jordan, and, ascending an 
eminence that overlooked the valley, witnessed the sublime scene that followed. 
The Jordan parts before the stroke of Elijah's mantle, and now they stand upon the 
opposite shore — the prophet father and the prophet son in their last act of earthly 
communion. Elijah, with an overflowing heart, tells Elisha to present now his last 
request. ' Ask what I shall do for thee before I am taken away from thee. ' Elisha 
had no difficulty in fixing upon his request. One great thought now filled his 
mind — anxiety about the cause of God after Elijah was gone. Hence he instantly 
replies : ' I pray thee let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. ' But whilst 
they were talking, behold there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and 
parted them both asunder, and Elijah went up by whirlwind into Heaven." 

Dr. Paxton is tall, rather spare, erect, and in the full activity of 
his years. His head is round, and his features are delicate, regular, 
and highly expressive of the best qualities of mind and heart He 
has clear, speaking, kindly eyes, and prominent intellectual charac- 
teristics. He is a man of peculiar blandness of manner, and, without 

426 



REV. WILLIAM M. PAXTON, D. D. 

the slightest sacrifice of a most becoming dignity, places himself on 
pleasant and familiar terms with you. He converses freely on all 
current and learned subjects with the interest always imparted by an 
observing and educated man. 

Dr. Paxton is emphatically a man of power. He has energy foi 
any work and ability for any position. His natural qualities were 
of the first order, and these have been developed by the severest 
training of scholarship. He speaks fluently, with the ease and polish 
of diction and grace of gesture which show the natural and educated 
orator; but above all he has a depth, comprehensiveness, and force 
of reasoning which are irresistible. He is one of those men who 
instantly satisfies you that he is the master of his subject. There 
are no common-place thoughts, no dim and misty statements of 
argument, and no attempts to make wordy declamation serve the 
purpose of research and logic. It is a sermon eloquent, and at the 
same time complete in sterling original ideas, and one in which 
imagination bestows its pleasing adornment without for a moment 
modifying the strength and effect of comprehensive argument. The 
doctrines of his church, the themes of the Scriptures, and the fitting 
topics of the hour, are all dealt with in a manner the most masterly. 
Mind and heart are at work in all these efforts; the Christian and 
the man give truth and gentleness to every word ; and eloquence 
and conscientious earnestness pervade the whole sermon. 



427 



REV. WILLIAM II. PENDLETON, 

PASTOR OF THE WEST FIFTY-THIRD STREET 
BAPTIST CHURCH, NEW YORK:. 




EV. WILLIAM H. PENDLETON was horn in Stoning- 
ton, Conn., in the year 1832. He spent his early years in 
academic pursuits and the study of the law. He went to 
California, and while there entered upon the work cf the 
Christian ministry in 1855. His first pastoral charge was 
assumed in the city of Brooklyn, three years later, in which he 
spent eighteen months. Alter this he became pastor of the 
Cannon street Baptist Church, New York, and continued to labor as 
its pastor for several years. He has now been in his present position 
for a length of time In all these positions his ministry has been 
eminently successful. The aggregate of conversions under his preach- 
ing reaches nearly six hundred. He is a good deal of a revivalist, 
and he does not allow his congregation to grow apathetic in the 
religious work. 

Mr. Pendleton has obtained some celebrity as an energetic member 
and manager of the American Bible Union, the organization ot 
Baptists which is engaged in a translation of the Scriptures. He is 
also the Kecording Secretary. 

Mr. Pendleton is under the average height, with a compact frame, 
and much activity. His head is large and round, with a square face, 
and regular features. His eyes are large and full of good nature and 
sympathy, and his bold forehead shows that he is not wanting in in- 
tellectual capacity. He is a man of energy, one who loves to toil, 
and who despairs not though defeat often overtakes him. He is 
courageous, and he makes all his burdens of labor lighter by a cheer- 
fulness and hopefulness which never forsake him. He is modest in 
his bearing, frank and warm in his feelings, and strict and true in re- 
gard to his principles and his duty. 

428 



REV. WILLIAM H. PENDLETON. 

Mr. Pendleton is a man of the most unpretending appearance and 
manners. He is so modest that he always shrinks from prominence 
when there are others who can take such positions. He loves to work 
silently, and in those places where notice is not likely to be taken of 
him. So modest and unassuming is he that to the ordinary observer 
he might readily be regarded as a person of little usefulness or in- 
fluence in the affairs of the church. But this would be a grave 
mistake. He has a treasure of energy which makes him " a host in 
himself," and he has a cheerfulness and amiability which make him 
popular, and hence influential with all classes. 

He is an attractive and effective speaker. He, of course, does not 
lose sight of the potency of a logical argument, but his forte is in im- 
passioned declamation. He feels in his own heart the full force and 
expression of every word that he utters, and he speaks in a fervor of 
language which is natural oratory with him. His language is well 
chosen, it is pointed and comprehensive ; but, above all, it is fervent. 
Like all such speakers, he indulges in considerable gesticulation, but 
it is appropriate and deeply impressive. He is a very good extem- 
poraneous speaker, and, indeed, many think that these are his best 
efforts. It has been very justly remarked of him that, while his mind 
is essentially poetic, he has with sound discretion chastened it to the 
more sober shade of thought suitable to the character of the Christian 
ministry. 

Mr. Pendleton belongs to the working young ministers of the 
Baptist denomination. He will undoubtedly win for himself a pro- 
minent position in the ministry and a fair share of the world's re- 
nown. And he will win it by work. No man will ever call him a 
sluggard when there is labor to be done, and no duty will be found 
neglected when it has been entrusted to his fidelity and energy. With 
these characteristics he has a future of great promise, and his deno- 
mination will always have in him an unwavering worker in the vine- 
yard of the faith. 

429 



REV. CHARLES S. POMEROY, 

LATE PASTOR OF THE KOSS STREET P*TIXJS- 
BYTERIAJV CHULtOH, BROOKLrN, 




EY. CHARLES S. POMEROY was born in Brooklyn, 
New York, July 7th, 1834. He is the son of Daniel and 
Clarissa L. Pomeroy, both of whom are deceased. In 
1854, he graduated at Columbia College, New York, and 
soon after entered mercantile life. He made a profession of 
faith in Christ, and united with the First Presbyterian Church 
of Brooklyn, where both of his parents were members, and his father 
an elder, during the ministry of the Rev. Dr. William Hogarth. Not 
long subsequent to this, he began to prepare for the ministry; and 
after two years of private study, he took a partial course at the Union 
Theological Seminary, New York. He was licensed to preach by the 
Presbytery of Brooklyn (New School), in May, 1864, and the same 
year was called to the pastoral charge of the Ross street Presbyterian 
Church, a new enterprise just organized from members of three dif- 
ferent churches in the eastern district of Brooklyn. He was ordained 
and installed pastor of the Ross street church by the Presbytery of 
Nassau(01d School), ou the 16th of October, 1864. 

At first the congregation worshiped in a hired ball, but at once 
began to build a handsome brick and stone chapel. Here they re- 
mained five years, until the growth of the congregation absolutely 
required a more spacious edifice. In 1872, they finished their pres- 
ent large and convenient structure of iron, upon lots previously held 
for that purpose. The church property is worth about one hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars. Nearly four hundred members were 
added to the church under Mr. Pomeroy's ministry. In 1873, he ac- 
cepted a call to the Second Presbyterian Church, in Cleveland, Ohio. 
He was the stated clerk of the synod of Long Island, and, also of 
the Presbytery of Brooklyn, having been appointed as such when 
these bodies were organized, at the re-union of the two branches of 

the Presbyterian Church. He was married September 7th, 1858, to 

430 



REV. CHARLES S. POMEROT. 

Miss Clara Townsend, of New York. They have had five children, 
three boys and two girls, but have suffered the deep affliction of the 
loss of all of them. 

Mr. Pomeroy is of a round, erect form, with a finely formed head. 
His complexion is naturally fair, and usually tinged with the ruddy 
glow of health. His eyes are soft, having a bright, cheerful twinkle, 
which is almost one of merriment. In fact, his whole face is most 
pleasing. There is not a feature or a line in it which do not proclaim 
both his intellect and his virtue. Gifts of the mind and purity of the 
heart have written their image in its whole structure, and those who 
look at it would rely on him for these without a moment's hesitation. 
His manners are particularly warm and gentlemanly with all persons. 
In conversation he is fluent and animated. 

In all the duties of the pastorship he is a conscientious and earn- 
est worker. With a great deal of practical tact and efficiency in his 
dealings with others, he is a man so dignified and consistent in his 
character as a clergyman, that his success and popularity have been 
equally marked throughout his career. He preaches without display, 
but with a vigor of thought and a seriousness of demeanor which com- 
mand the strict attention of large audiences. A deeply pious man 
himself, making religion the stay of this life and the hope of the next, 
with a fullness of confidence and faith, which amounts to an enthusi- 
asm, he shows in his sermons that he is moved by the sole purpose 
of saving sinners. Hence, if there is a flight of eloquence, if there 
are words of touching pathos, it is where he is seeking, borne on by 
his religious fervor, to gain some idle ear and froward heart. Cer- 
tainly his own talents cannot be lost sight of by those who hear him, 
but, it is likewise certain, that personally he uses them merely as the 
humble instruments in his Master's work. By his people he is be- 
loved for beautiful traits of character, which are exhibited in all his 
relations with them, and by the community at large he is regarded 
with high and sincere appreciation. 

431 



REV. ELBERT S. PORTER, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE FIRST REFORMED CHURCH, 
RROOKLYiV, (E. J>.) 




EY. DR. ELBERT S. PORTER was born in the town 
of Hillsboro', New Jersey, October 23rd, 1820. His early 
studies were at a select school at Ovid, Seneca county, 
New York, where he was sent at six years of age, and at 
\|9) a school in the city of New York kept by the father of the 
S3 late distinguished lawyer, James T. Brady. When between 
eleven and twelve he went into a store at Millstone, New York, for 
one year. After this he attended the Academy at Somerville, New 
Jersey, where he spent three years. He entered the Sophomore 
class of Princeton College in his sixteenth year, and was graduated 
three years later, in 1839. He studied law for a short time, but did 
not seek admission to the bar. He was graduated in theology at the 
Theological Seminary at New Brunswick in 1842. In the same year 
he was licensed by the classis of New Brunswick, and in the fol- 
lowing fall was installed at Chatham, in Columbia county, New 
York, as pastor of a small missionary congregation. This point is 
now known as Chatham on the Harlem Railroad, and the junction 
of the Boston and Albany Railroad. At the date of Dr. Porter's 
going there it was a small settlement of a poor, and to a considerable 
extent, vicious population. Filled with zeal in the ministerial work, 
he commenced his labors, and met with great success. He remained 
seven years, and built up one of the most flourishing of the country 
churches of the Reformed denomination. He next accepted a call 
to his present church, then known as the First Reformed Dutch 
Church in Williamsburgh, of which he became the pastor November 
1st, 1849, and has now officiated for twenty -four years. 

The history of this church is very interesting. Its growth shows 
the wonderful changes which forty-four years have produced in the 
entire section now included in the citj of Brooklyn. In the first 
year of the present century, Brooklyn contained only 3,298 inhabi- 

432 





(^ 6&jz^A^ (S6n^£^-r~ 



E E V. ELBEET S. PORTEE, D. D. 

tants, and in 1834 was erected into a city with a population of about 
24,000. It then had but one Eeformed Dutch Church, whereas now 
there are about fifteen. In the year 1817, a ferry was established 
between the foot of Grand street, New York, and the foot of what 
afterwards became Grand street. Williamsburgh. Prior to that period 
the inhabitants crossed the river by sail or paddle-boats. The ferry 
soon contributed to the establishment of a considerable settlement 
along the shore, from Grand to North Second street, through which 
ran the turnpike to Newtown. A village charter was obtained in 
1827, when the population amounted to about fifteen hundred. At 
that date the shore from Wallabout Bay to Newtown Creek was 
dotted with comfortable farm-houses, occupied by the old Dutch fam- 
ilies. Williamsburgh became a city, January 1st, 1852, and it was 
consolidated with Brooklyn and Bushwick, under one charter, Janu- 
ary 1st, 1855. At the date of the consolidation, Williamsburgh had a 
population of about fifty thousand, and Brooklyn about one hundred 
and twenty thousand. The entire population at this time is about 
four hundred thousand. 

The church in Williamsburgh grew out of the First Reformed 
Dutch Church of Bushwick. On the 28th of September, 1828, the 
cornei'-stone of a church edifice was laid on a site which is now on 
the corner of Fourth and South Second streets. It was dedicated 
on the 26th of July, 1829, the Eev. Dr. Broadhead, of New York, 
preaching the sermon. The congregation was organized as a sepa- 
rate church by the classis of Long Island on the 1st November, 1829. 
Immediately after its organization the church received into its ser- 
vice the Rev. James Demarest, who for the first six months served 
in the capacity of a missionary, and was supported in part by the 
Board of Domestic Missions. On the first Sabbath of his labors he 
preached to sixteen people, on the second to eighteen, and on the 
third to twenty-four. At that date the building was remote from 
the village, which was forming around and above the foot of Grand 
street. Fourth street was then but a farmer's lane — rough, uneven 
with boulders, and studded here and there with stumps or with trees 
of the original forest. Flagged sidewalks, and pavements as yet 
there were none. Rev. Mr. Demarest labored as missionary and 
pastor for nine years and nine months, when he resigned. The pas- 
torate was next filled by the Rev. William H. Van Doren, who re- 
mained until the spring of 1849, about ten years. In the spring of the 
same year important improvements of the church edifice were com- 

433 



REV. ELBERT S. PORTER, D. D. 

pleted. The installation of Dr. Porter took place on the third Sun- 
day of December, 1849, and his ministry has been the most noted in 
the history of the church. In 1849, Williamsburgh was still a small 
place. The streets were unlighted by night, save only when the 
moon relieved the darkness. Since then every one of the local in- 
stitutions has been established, such as banks, markets, libraries, and 
associations for public beneficence. The churches were few, and 
their membership not large. 

From an early date the First Church contributed its members 
and its means to found other churches. The First Presbj'terian 
Church of Williamsburgh grew out of it ; in 1848, twenty three 
members were dismissed to form the church at Greenpoint ; in 1851, 
several were dismissed to aid in the organization of the South Bush- 
wick Church, and in 1854, members were dismissed to found the Lee 
Avenue Church. For several years, contributions were made to the 
salaries of the ministers of both the last-named churches. In 1855, 
a Mission Sunday School was established in Ninth street, which has 
since been maintained in great vigor and efficiency, at an expense 
of never less than five hundred dollars per annum. The church has 
repeatedly given its assistance, pecuniarily and otherwise, in other 
practical efforts of religious usefulness. 

In 1854, the spire of the church was prostrated by a tornado. 
Subsequently the edifice was enlarged and improved at a cost of 
about five thousand dollars in all. In 1860, a contract was made 
for the purchase of a site for a new edifice, when the war arrested fur- 
ther movements. In July, 1866, the church on Fourth street was sold 
to the Central Baptist congregation, and in September, 1867, the foun- 
dations of a new edifice were commenced on the site purchased in 1860. 
This site consists of seven lots, four on Bedford avenue, and three 
on Clymer street, one of the most select and highly-improved neigh- 
borhoods of the city. The corner-stone was laid in July, 1868. 
The completed church was dedicated in October, 1869, and cost, with 
a chapel adjoining, $130,000. The building is in the Eoman- 
esque style of architecture, and is one hundred and ten feet 
long (exclusive of the chapel) by seventy feet wide. The whole 
front on Bedford avenue, including towers, is eighty-two feet On 
the north-west corner there is a tower ninety-eight feet high, and on 
the opposite corner is a large turret seventy-eight feet high. The 
basement is built of Belleville stone, and the walls above the base- 
ment are faced up with Philadelphia pressed brick, and trimmed 

434 



EEV. ELBERT S. PORTER, D. D. 

with Dorchester stone. The aiidience room is eighty-seven feet by 
sixty-seven in the clear. The windows are filled with en- 
riched glass. The first floor is seated with walnut pews of the most 
approved pattern. There are galleries on three sides, having hand- 
some openwork fronts made of walnut and butternut woods. These 
are unlike most galleries, in that they are constructed with one level 
floor, the entire width, in place of the usual style with platforms 
graded one above the other. This level gallery is divided into 
spaces of about eight by eight feet each, with light open baluster 
railings, carpeted the same as the first floor, each space furnished 
with walnut upholstered chairs and a small center-table, thus making 
the gallery the most attractive portion of the house. These spaces 
have been rented for an aggregate sum of three thousand dollars. 
The building is provided with a new system of ventilation. The walls 
and ceilings are richly tinted with delicate hues. The church seats 
fourteen hundred, and the chapel accomodates six hundred. Three 
hundred and twenty-five dollars premium was paid for the choice of 
the first pew at the sale of them. Taken as a whole, this is one of 
the most elegant and commodious edifices of the kind to be found 
in the United States. 

During the day of dedication three imposing and largely attended 
services took place in the church. Dr. Porter preached the principal 
sermon, the Rev. Dr. De Witt delivered an address and the dedica- 
tion sentences and prayer, and Chancellor Isaac Ferris delivered an 
affecting and appropriate address to the congregation. There are 
now about four hundred members, and each of the two Sunday 
schools has about two hundred scholars. 

Dr. Porter received his degree of D. D. from Rutgers College, 
New Brunswick, in 1854. For fourteen years he was the editor of 
the Christian Intelligencer, the organ of the reformed denomination. 
His career as an editor was brilliant in the extreme, and when he 
resigned this position, both the religious and secular press united in 
an expression of the highest regard for his character and talents. 
Besides his editorial writings, he has published in serial form a 
"History of the Reformed Dutch Church in the United States," the 
" Pastor's Guide," and other small volumes, and various occasional 
sermons. One of these latter is a " Historical Discourse," delivered 
on the final services in the old church, and is of much value from its 
historical information. Dr. Porter was the president of the first 

General Synod held after the name of the denomination was changed 

435 



REV. EL BEST S. PORTER, D. D. 

from the Eeformed Dutch to the Eeformed Church of North Ameri- 
ca. He has a beautiful farm of sixty acres at Claverack, in Colum- 
bia county, which is well managed and made profitable by a person 
in charge. 

Dr. Porter has an equally-proportioned figure, of the average 
height He lias a quiet, plain appearance, but his whole manner at 
once assures you that he is a man of both dignity and force of char- 
acter. His head is long, with a sharp chin, but much fairness in 
the upper portion. The features are prominent and expressive. 
His head and face proclaim three distinctive and strong qualities in 
him. In the first place, he is a thoroughly conscientious man in 
every duty of life ; second, he is strong in his own self-reliance ; and 
third, his mind is clear, comprehensive, and practical on all occasions 
and on all subjects. He was never found wanting in any place that 
duty placed him ; and in the church and everywhere he is one of 
those who naturally take the position of a leader and example to 
other men. In his conversation, in his calmness and method, in his 
confidence, which, after all, is not unmingled with caution, you ob- 
tain a vivid insight into the moral and physical power which is in- 
born in him. He is not demonstrative or presumptuous, but quiet, 
unobtrusive and modest Agreeable, cordial, and frank in his man- 
ners, they are not of a kind to draw any especial attention upon him. 
But when work is to be done, when cool, practical judgment is 
wanted, wfien a champion and a hero are required, then he comes to 
the front, with his strong nerve, his willing mind and hands, and his 
brave and hopeful heart 

His work in the ministry stands nobly conspicuous in the religious 
record of his times for its fidelity and success. It has not been a 
work of show and boastfulness, but one which will speak through 
all denominational history for its usefulness to the church and the 
community. His sermons excel in both learning and literary ability. 
He writes in an elegant, compact, and forcible style of composition, 
showing the ready pen, and enlarged and brilliant mental powers. 
Whatever he displays appears in thought and argument which are 
peculiarly his own. There is no seeming effort and no display, but 
his pleasant flow of tender language, and his logical, sensible views, 
never fail to arrest all ears. 

436 



RT. REV. BISHOP HORATIO POTTER, D.D., LL. D, D.C. L, 

OF THE NEW YORK! DIOCESE OE THE PROT- 
ESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 




IIGHT EEV. DR HOEATIO POTTEE, Bishop of 
the Protestant Episcopal Diocese of New York, was 
born at Beekman (now La Grange), Dutchess County, 
New York, February 9th, 1802. His early education was 
received at an academy at Poughkeepsie. He was graduated at 
Union College in 1826, and was ordained a deacon of the Epis- 
copal Church, July, 1827, and priest in the following year. During 
the same year he was appointed professor of mathematics and natural 
philosophy in Washington (now Trinity) College, Hartford, where he 
remained five years. In the interval he declined an invitation fr-om 
Bishop Moore to become assistant minister of the Monumental 
church, Eichmond, Virginia. In 1833, he accepted the rectorship 
of St. Peter's church, Albany, and declined the presidency of Trin- 
ity College in 1837, after an election to that position. On the death 
of Bishop Wainwright. in 1854, he was elected provisional bishop 
of the diocese of New York, and consecrated November 22d, 1854, 
and on the decease of Bishop B. T. Onderdonk, who was under sus- 
pension, April 30th, 1861, he became bishop. It may be mentioned 
as a singular coincidence, that a brother of Bishop Potter was bishop 
of Pennsylvania, and that each of them succeeded one of the 
brothers Onderdonk. 

During a visit to England, Bishop Potter was entertained, with 
marked honors by the English bishops. 

The western portion of the State of New York has long been a 
separate diocese, and more recently both Long Island and Central 
New York have been erected into a third and fourth see. The 
increase of Episcopal churches in the city of New York has been 
greater than in any of the other denominations, and the increase has 
been large in other parts of the State. 

Bishop Potter resides in the city of New York, in an Episcopa 
residence (provided), and enjoys a large salary, which is paid out of a 
fund created for the purpose. He is expected to visit each church in 

437 






RT. REV. HORATIO POTTER, D. D., LL. D., D. 0. L. 

his diocese once in each year, when candidates for confirmation are 
presented. 

Bishop Potter is tall and thin, with narrow shoulders, erect car- 
riage, and active step. His head is of the long kind, with thin 
visage, and deep-set eyes. His hair is of a silver gray, and he has a 
round, full brow. His manners are always dignified. 

He has an absorbing, ever-apparent conviction of the exaltation 
and sacred character of his episcopal office. If men are born for 
bishops he is one of them. He exhibits to the fullest extent that 
solemnity of demeanor, that strictness of life, and that superiority of 
talent required in one called to such functions. The atmosphere 
about him seems laden with influences awing to the sensibilities, all 
his daily steps are in the path of conscientious duty, and his gran- 
deur of intellect makes his authority more imposing. 

In social intercourse he is a most courtly man. He belongs to 
the old school of gentlemen, and his demeanor has the greatest pro- 
priety and polish about it on all occasions. His dress is strictly of 
the clerical order— i. e., a single-breasted frock coat, and turned-up 
collar, with white cravat, the suit being black. 

Bishop Potter is an agreeable speaker. He has a voice which is 
of sufficient volume, though not by any means powerful. His 
utterances are calm and dignified, and evidently the offspring of a 
gentle Christian spirit His arguments are in the plainest language, 
and they are urged with the earnestness of one fully appreciating his 
responsibility as a religious teacher, and personally interested in the 
welfare of every human soul. 

As a scholar, he ranks with the ablest in his denomination. He 
has found no models in superficial men. He abhors anything like 
charlatanism, and has won his own way by steps of severe applica- 
tion, and obtained honors which are only the proper reward of hon- 
orable success and a conscientious ambition. 

In the sterling parts of character, in all the practices of a pure 
and godly life, and in a dignified and proper sense of his Episcopal 
functions, Bishop Potter stands a pre-eminent example to the world. 
He is a good and valuable man, in the fullest meaning of the term. 
Universally popular in his denomination among both clergy and 
laity, exerting his eminent talents and diligent labors with the great- 
est success in one of the most wealthy and intelligent dioceses of the 
American Episcopal Church, he occupies a position alike honorable 

to himself and beneficial to the cause of religion. 

438 



REV. HENRY C. POTTER, D. D., 

RECTOR OF GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 
NEW YORK!. 




)EV. DR HENRY C. POTTER is the son of the late 
Right Rev. Alonzo Potter, Bishop of Pennsylvania, and 
was born at Schenectady, New York. He was educated 
at the Episcopal Academy of Philadelphia, and at the 
^|) Theological Seminary of Virginia, from which latter institution 
he was graduated in 1857. He was ordained deacon in the 
same year, and called to Christ Church, Greensburgh, Westmoreland 
county, Pennsylvania, where he remained until May, 1859. At this 
period he accepted a call to St. John's church, Troy, New York. In 
1862 he was called to Christ Church, Cincinnati, bat declined. In 
the spring of 1863 he was tendered the presidency of Kenyon Col- 
lege, Ohio, and in November of the same year the rectorship of St 
Paul's Church, Albany, both of which invitations he declined. In 
May, 1866, he accepted a call to be "Assistant Minister of Trinity 
Church, Boston, on the Greene Foundation," where he remained until 
May, 1868, when he became rector of Grace Church, Broadway, 
New York. 

He has published "Thirty Years Renewed," "Our Threefold 
Victory,"' "Young Men's Christian Associations and their Work," 
" The Church and the Children," " The Religion for To-day," and 
other sermons and essays. He received his degree of D. D. from 
Union College in 1865 

Grace Church is one of the old and wealthy Episcopal organiza- 
tions of New York. Worship was held in former times in a very 
fine structure which stood on the corner of Broadway and Rector 
street, a little farther down than Trinity Church. The church was 
an imposing building, and, when that part of the city was the abode 
of the wealth and fashion of New York, was regarded as a great 
ornament, and largely attended by intelligent and influential people. 
The late Bishop Wainwright was the rector for many years. At 

439 



REV. HENRY 0. POTTER, D. D. 

length a removal to the upper part of Broadway was determined 
upon, and a location was selected near the corner of Tenth street. 
At that period this portion of Broadway and the neighboring streets 
were occupied with private residences, and the idea of the locality 
being invaded by business was never thought of. A building, which 
was then regarded as the most elegant and costly in the United 
States, was constructed, and it at once became the fashionable church 
of New York. It is probably still the wealthiest congregation of 
the city, but it is beginning to suffer in attendance from being so far 
down town. At an early period, and in building the new church, 
the congregation was much assisted by Trinity Church in the dona- 
tion of valuable real estate. Rev. Dr. Thomas H. Taylor was the 
rector for many years, and remained in charge until his death. 

Dr. Potter is above the medium height, finely proportioned, and 
of an erect, graceful bearing. He has a large head, with delicate and 
intellectual features. His face is ruddy and healthful looking, and 
his whole apjjearance gives the impression of a man vigorous and 
ready for any earnest work. He has a quiet dignity of manner, but 
is courteous and affable with all. His countenance is very vanning, 
for it has not only the light of a superior intelligence, but it has 
amiability and goodness as well. You see that he is a man of mental 
power, and one who is well calculated to be a guide and teacher for 
other men. But there is a kindness in the calm glance of his eyes, 
a softness and gentleness in his tone and address, and a geniality and 
blandness in his manners which show that he is a person of a true 
and noble heart He is a man for hard work, strict attention to 
ministerial duty, an eager, laborious student in the most extensive 
fields of learning. But he is never so much absorbed in his profes- 
sional labors that he fails to give evidence of those traits of character 
which display the sentiment and sympathies of the tender heart. Some 
men in the midst of an active public career become indifferent to the 
cultivation of the emotions. They grow severe and rigid in their 
habits of life and opinions, and look upon the heart as a very weak 
spot in the human organization. There are other public characters, 
however, and Dr. Potter is one of them, who always show that they 
are under control of the heart not less than the head. They exhibit 
it in a larger share of humanity, in drawing nearer to their fellow- 
men in all personal relations, and in giving force and substance to an 
actual brotherhood of mankind. 

All who come in contact with Dr. Potter find him intellectually 

440 



REV. HENRY C. POTTER, D. D. 

able, but at the same time emphatically a man of soul. Keen and 
far-reaching as he is in mind, he is likewise gentle and loving in all 
his emotions. Gather as he may the rich stores of learning, he is 
not satisfied unless he can spare to others the equally precious treas- 
ures of a heart open to every sorrow and made gladsome by every 
joy. His words are always kind, and his sympathy is always sincere. 
You see all this in his amiable and benevolent countenance, and you 
are made to feel it in his warm and unselfish actions. If you go to 
him to learn your moral and i*eligious duty, he thus instructs you, by 
his example and teachings, in the practice of the cardinal virtues 
which render all sorrow and all joy mutual to sympathetic hearts. 

Dr. Potter ranks among the most eminent men of the younger 
portion of the Episcopal clergy. His intellectual attainments are 
extensive and thorough, and his natural qualities in this particular 
are of such an order that he is fitted to become one of the soundest 
and most brilliant thinkers of his time. He excels as a polished and 
forcible writer. He has easy flow of thought, which is full of vigor 
and comprehensiveness. It is also characterized by a great deal 
of manly feeling. There is nothing like insipid sentimentality 
about what he writes, but it is glowing with the love of a heart 
which is ever beating in tenderness for his tempted and sin-laden 
race. 

He has marked powers as a pulpit orator. His presence is com- 
manding, and remarkable for all that grace and impressiveness which 
a fine person and priestly habiliments can impart. His style of ad- 
dress is composed and orderly, and with just sufficient animation 
to give it effectiveness without giving it too much demonstrative- 
ness. His voice is rich and fully under his control, and his gesticu- 
lation is always appropriate. 

A man of these agreeable personal qualities and of these broad 
and useful talents is certainly the one who can be the most success- 
ful in a parish like that of Grace Church. All that he has to do. is: 
to give full scope to his great abilities, and let eloquence, learning, 
and a pure, consistent life do their proper work. The cultivated 
and influential people to whom he preaches can and will appreciate 
these qualities, and they have the spirit and the means of every kind' 
to give his labors the most complete and enduring success. 



Ml 



REV. HENRY POWERS, 



PASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH, 
(UNITAXtlAJV, ) NEW YORK. 




i&£5- 



>EV. HENEY POWEES was born at Hadley, Massacnu- 
setts, December 28th, 1833. His early studies were at 
home, and at the district school and academy. He was 
graduated at Yale College in 1857, and in theology at the 
East Windsor Theological Institute in I860. Having accepted 
*~3 a call to the Second Congregational Church of West Springfield, 
Massachusetts, he was ordained and installed in October, 1860. He 
remained with this congregation about four years, and then went to 
Danbury, Connecticut, as pastor of the Second Congregational Church, 
where he remained about four years. On January 11th, 1869, he was 
called to become the pastor of the Elm Place Congregational Church, 
Brooklyn. Mr. Powers commenced his labors on the first Sunday in 
February, and was duly installed March 3d, of the same year. He 
remained in this pastorshio three years, resigning February 1st, 1872. 
On Sunday, November 21th, 1872, he was installed pastor of the 
Second Congregational Unitarian Church, otherwise Church of the 
Messiah, New York, as the successor of the Eev. George H. Hep- 
worth. Some months previously Mr. Powers had publicly announced 
his change of belief to that of the Unitarian sect 

Eev. Dr. Samuel Osgood was called to the Church of the Messiah, 
in 1849, who remained until about 1869. He was succeeded by 
Mr. Hepworth in June 1869, who resigned in 1872. After occupying 
a church on Broadway for many years, the congregation dedicated 
their present magnificent structure on the comer of Thirty-fourth 
street and Park avenue, in April, 1867. 

Unitarianism was introduced in New York city as early as Jan- 
uary, 1794, by a Mr. John Butler, in a series of lectures. The first 
sermon was preached by the Eev. Dr. Channing, in a private house, 
April 25th, 1819. This was the origin of the Church of All Souls, 
of which Dr. Bellows is pastor, and which was incorporated Nov. 

442 



REV. HENRY POWERS. 

15th, 1819, as the First Congregational Unitai-ian Church of New 
York City. The Eev. William Ware was its first pastor, from 1821 
to 1836. 

Mr. Powers has a tall and slender figure. He shows an energetic 
and somewhat impulsive and nervous activity at all times. His head 
and face are small, but they have very marked characteristics. The 
whole expression of the face is intellectual, and the full high brow is 
especially noticeable in this connection. It is readily to be seen that 
he is a man of large and active brain power. His countenance also 
shows decision and earnestness, a love of honor and truth, and a 
genial and cheerful temperament He has light complexion and hair, 
and wears whiskers and a moustache. His eyesight has been affected 
by close study, and he wears spectacles constantly His manners are 
friendlv and candid, and his conversation is animated and interest- 
ing. 

He is a man between whom and other men there is never the 
slightest barrier to good feeling and brotherly love. Fair, frank, -un- 
suspicious in his own character and feelings, he throws himself with- 
out reserve or hesitation upon like characteristics in others. If you 
have them not he will awaken them ; for his good-nature, his kind- 
ness of manner, and his friendliness of sentiment will thaw a heart 
of ice. He has very little, if any, policy ; he is free and unguarded 
in his opinions, and his sincerity toward you cannot be doubted. 
Under these circumstances, and with these peculiarities of character, 
he wins friendship and love, and he, at the same time, kindles your 
heart and mind to a realization of the same fond impulses which draw 
him to every man as a friend and brother. If there are studied rules 
of deportment, and if there are words which must be measured to 
suit the drift of human policy, he knows nothing about them, and, 
in fact, despises them. In his contact with men he is as simple as a 
child. The laugh that is in him must come out, and the tear that 
has bubbled from his heart he is not ashamed to let fall. He aims to 
be natural to the heart's true impulses, and to be honest in language 
and in deed. He requires no study from the observer, for every word 
and every action is a truth- teller of his character and nature. Of a 
character humble and devout, and noble and true ; of a nature simple 
and trusting, and just and loving. In genial social attributes, and in 
simplicity and sincerity of character, he is a marked example among 
men. 

Mi*. Powers is no ordinary preacher. He has a mind of his own 

44.3 



REV. HENRY POWERS. 

on theological matters, and his sermons show the original thinker 
in a striking degree. He has gone deep in his scholarly investiga 
tions, and he has delved to dispute as well as to learn. He grapples 
with abstruse questions with the nerve and intelligence of an older 
scholar, and those who hear or read his meditations, are profoundly 
impressed with his learned conclusions. Hence all his sermons are 
scholarly productions. They show thought and feeling. They have 
a beauty and a force of diction which are very captivating in them- 
selves : but it is their originality, their strong and logical arguments, 
and their thorough infusion of Christian love and hope, which so 
greatly impress the hearer. He is eloquent and at times impassioned. 
Fancy, at his bidding, takes a wide flight in all its realm of 
beauty, and his earnest and ardent heart gives the glow of feeling 
and sincerity to every word. But he makes this but incidental to 
the performance. His power of mind is thrown into the argument, 
and he levels his shafts at the mind of the listener. He wishes not 
so much to melt the heart as to instruct and convince the reason. 
Consequently he is an intellectual preacher in the fullest sense, giv- 
ing time and thought to the preparation of his sermons, and seeking 
to make them something more than a mere part of the church 
exercises. And he succeeds pretty well in this. He sends his 
hearers away with material for many an after hour of reflection. 
He gives the rules for moral and religious government, but more 
especially he incites them to an intellectual view of human destiny 
and salvation. 

A hard worker with his physical and mental energies, and seek- 
ing a wide and beneficent influence in the theological world, he is 
gathering strength which will undoubtedly place him in the foremost 
rank of the popular preachers and thinkers of his times. At no 
distant day he also designs to take the field of theological author- 
ship. 

444 



REV. GEORGE L. PRENTISS, D. D., 

LATE PASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE COT« 
ENAJVT, (PRESBYTERIAN,) NEW YORK. 




' EY. Dr. GEORGE L. PRENTISS was born at Gorham, 
Maine, May 12th, 1816. His early studies were at the 
academy of his native place, then under the charge of 
Rev. Reuben Mason, a noted Congregational minister of 

fthat day. Having entered Bowdoin College, he was graduated 
in 1835. During the two years following he was engaged as 
an assistant teacher in the Gorham Academy and in a visit to the 
Southwest, where he had a brother, the celebrated statesman and 
orator, S. S. Prentiss. In 1838 he went abroad and passed between 
three and four years in study and travel. About two years were 
occupied in a theological course at the universities of Halle and 
Berlin. Returning to the United States, he was licensed as a Con- 
gregational minister by the Cumberland Association of Ministers, in 
1844, and ordained and installed in the spring of 1845 at the New 
Bedford Trinitarian Church. He remained in this position until the 
autumn of 1850, when he transferred his labor to the Second Pres- 
byterian Church of Newark, New Jersey, for a short period. On 
April 30th, 1851, he took charge of the Mercer Street Presbyterian 
Church, in New York, where he remained until May 3d, 1858, when 
ill-health obliged him to resign his pastorship. The congregation 
made a liberal provision for him, and he went abroad, spending two 
years in Switzerland, France and England. During the winter of 
1859-60 he officiated at the American Chapel in Paris. He returned 
to the United States in the autumn of the latter year. 

He now determined to found a new church of the New School 
Presbyterian faith in the upper part of New York, and commenced 
his services on the last Sunday in November, 1860, in the chapel of 
the Home of the Friendless, in East Twenty-ninth street, and subse- 
quently held them at Dodworth Studio Hall, corner of Fifth Avenue 

and Thirty-sixth street. On March 21st, 1862, the Church of the 

445 



REV. GEORGE L. PRENTISS. D. D. 

Covenant was organized, and in November, 1863, the corner-stone 
of a church edifice was laid on the corner of Park Avenue and 
Thirty-fifth street. Here a magnificent stone structure has been 
erected, which in beauty of external and internal design, spacious- 
ness and general completeness, is equal to any church in the city. 
The cost of the site, building and organ was about one hundred 
and thirty thousand dollars. The church was dedicated April 30th, 
1865. 

The congregation has erected a Memorial Chapel on Forty-second 
street, near Second avenue. It is for a mission work, and intended 
as a memorial of the union of the Old and New School branches of 
the Presbyterian church. The building embraces a reading-room, 
library, and class-rooms, and cost thirty thousand dollars. 

Dr. Prentiss received his degree of D. D. from Bowdoin College 
about 1854 He is the author of a memoir of S. S. Prentiss, and 
has published a variety of sermons and addresses. He accepted the 
chair of Theology in the Presbyterian Theological Seminary of the 
Northwest, at Chicago, having been elected by the General Assembly, 
but subsequently declined it. On the 27th of April, 1873, he 
preached a farewell sermon before his congregation, having accepted 
a recently endowed chair of Pastoral Theology, Church Polity and 
Missionary Work, in the Union Theological Seminary, New York. 

We take the following eloquent extract from an address deliv- 
ered before the Association of the Alumni of Bowdoin College, 
August 8th, 1861 : 

"This great American system of liberty and social order, like our mother 
tongue, is a marvellous composite of old and new. It is enriched by the spoils of 
all time. Hardly any great State, ancient or modern, but has contributed something 
to its generous and fair proportions. What would it be if bereft of all it owes to 
the legislation of Moses and the Hebrew Scriptures ; to the democratic spirit, 
literature, and heroic examples of Greece ; or to the laws and jurisprudence of 
republican and imperial Rome ? It strikes its roots deep into mediasval and early 
Christian ages. The best polities of modern Europe helped to form it. The 
fountain from which it drew, and still draws, its holiest principles and inspiration, 
is the New Testament. 

"Never since the beginning of the world was a people allowed ampler scope 
freely to avail itself of all the lights of history, and all the aids of reflection, in 
constructing a system of national polity; and never had a people a richer experience 
of its own, or a more invaluable body of existing laws and institutions wherewith 
to give harmony, strength, and perpetuity (o the new structure. For, undoubtedly, 
the power which above all others inspired and shaped our republican system was 
the old Anglican liberty which our fathers brought with them across the ocean. 
This, together with the institutions which have given it its marvellous vitality and 

446 



REV. GEORGE L. PRENTISS, D. D. 

strength in the mother country, such as municipal and local self-government, the 
town meeting, the county court, popular suffrage and representation, the common 
law, the constable, trial by jury, the local church, the college, the Puritan Sabbath, 
and the old English Bible — this was and is the noblest substance of our national 
life. It is a mistake to suppose that our liberty is the fruit of the Revolutionary 
war. In that war we fought for and won our independence ; but our most important 
liberties are a venerable heirloom of the Anglo-Saxon race. They were won for us 
at Runnymede, and on many a later field renowned in the aunals of British free- 
dom. They were among those ' true, ancient, and indubitable rights and liberties ' 
of the people of England, asserted and claimed in their memorable Bill of Rights. 
Our Declaration of Independence was virtually a re-assertion of these same 'ancient 
rights and liberties. ' The Articles of Confederation were an attempt to combine 
and establish them in a 'perpetual union,' and finally the Constitution of the United 
States organized them into our present system of national government. But, al- 
though the substance of our liberties was the most precious inheritance which the 
infant nation brought with it, I need not say how greatly they were increased and 
invigorated under the hardy discipline of the colonial period and during the terri- 
ble trials of the War of Id dependence, or how, when the time was fully ripe, they 
were at length perfected in the great Constitution under which we now live. This 
Constitution was the work of men pre-eminent for public wisdom, zeal, prudence, 
and magnanimity — men deeply versed in the philosophy of government, 

" ' Looking before and after — ' 

"Long reflection, aided by much study and experience, had endowed them with 
a political sagacity almost intuitive ; and in all this they only represented the en- 
lightened popular instincts of the country. A more upright, single-hearted, 
admirable body of patriots never sat in council. They were worthy to be presided 
over by Washington. 

" ' Great men were then among us : hands that penned, 
And tongues that uttered wisdom ; better none. 

*********** 

They knew how genuine glory was put on ; 
Taught us how rightfully a nation shone 
In splendor.' " 

Dr. Prentiss is above the medium height, rather spaie, erect, and 
fall of activity. His head is more long than round, with a thin face, 
and small, well-molded features. His forehead is particularly con- 
spicuous from its heighth and breadth, and shows him to be a man 
of large mental capacity. He has small, deep-set, light eyes, of a 
gentle expression, but which have a great deal of fire and decision in 
them when the feelings are called into action. He exhibits consider- 
able reserve and dignity, but he is readily approachable to all, and 
is not wanting in genial and social characteristics. 

Dr. Prentiss is a man of most extensive learning, and, in fact, 

one of the ablest American minds of the day. His studies have 

. been varied, and his researches have had that enlarged scope which 

447 



REV. GEORGE L. PRENTISS, D. D. 

men give to them only when sustained by tireless energies and the 
clear, grasping mind. Whatever he has done in the way of learning 
has been done thoroughly, and now in the prime of his life he is 
recognized as a profound thinker, not only on theological, but all 
the learned and current subjects of the day. 

When you see him in the pulpit, you are struck with his digni- 
fied, intellectual appearance, but he no sooner speaks than you begin 
to doubt his having anything more than ordinary ability. His voice 
at first is weak, and has a very decided lisp, and altogether he seems 
a man but little calculated to address a public audience with effect. 
But as you listen you become aware that his discourse is a composi- 
tion written with unusual care, and in which there is great choiceness 
and force of language ; and then as he warms with his theme his 
voice has more power, and the lisp almost disappears. His argu- 
ments are those not merely of a man thoroughly versed in his sub- 
ject, but of one bold enough to say what he thinks and feels ; and, 
while there are constant passages of smoothly worded and inspiring 
eloquence, there is likewise full evidence that every word has been 
weighed to give it the most complete force of moral and religious 
expression. In truth, his discourse is found to have everything of 
literary ability in it, as its delivery has much that is of the highest 
order of oratorical excellence; but the strength and power of the 
appeal comes, after all, less from these than from its solemn moral 
and religious tone. 

The question with regard to Dr. Prentiss, as with every other 
public man, is what has he contributed, by his talents and toil, to 
the benefit of his race? The answer is the marked success of a 
ministry of a quarter of a century, culminating in the founding of 
one of the largest and most opulent churches of New York, and 
such contributions of thought to the theological, political, and secu- 
lar literature of his time as will maintain their place for generations 
living and yet to come. 

M8 



REV. THOMAS S. PRESTON, 

PASTOK OF THE CHURCH OF ST. .A.NTV, (CATHO- 
LIC,) ZVIEW YORK. 




EV. THOMAS S. PEESTON was born in the State of 
Connecticut, in 1824. He was graduated with distin- 
guished honors at Trinity College, Hartford, and was or- 
dained a minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church in 
1846. Subsequently he was assistant minister at the Church of 
the Annunciation (Dr. Seabury's), New York City, and at St. 
Luke's Church, of which the well-known Eev. Dr. John M. Forbes 
was then the rector. 

At that period the Episcopal Church in this country was greatly 
agitated by the sectarian movement of Dr. Pusey of England. Va- 
rious prominent clergymen were led to embrace Catholicism, and 
among these were both the subject of this notice and Dr. Forbes, 
who were received into the communion of the Roman Catholic 
Church, in 1849. In 1850, Mr. Preston was ordained a priest and 
appointed as assistant pastor at the St. Patrick's Cathedral. In 1855 
he was appointed Chancellor of the diocese, a position which he 
still holds. 

Dr. Forbes had been appointed pastor of St. Ann's Church ; but 
in 1859, he withdrew from the Church of Rome, and returned to the 
jurisdiction of the Episcopal Church. In 1861 Father Preston was 
appointed to St. Ann's, and for twelve years has discharged the 
duties with remarkable efficiency, in connection with those of Chan- 
cellor. Finding a few years since that the Church and school build- 
ings, on Eighth street and Fourth Avenue, did not provide sufficient 
accomodation for the wants of the important parish, he effected the 
purchase of the Temple Emanuel, of the Jewish congregation to 
which it belonged, in Twelfth street, with other property in the rear. 
The building was altered and improved, and a fine school building 
erected. The congregation is numerous and flourishing. 

The history of the Roman Catholic sect in the city of New York 

44>J J 



KEV. THOMAS S. PRESTON. 

may here be briefly given. As early as 1629, there were Catholics 
on Manhattan Island. However, in 1696, a census taken by the Mayor 
to see how many of the faith were in the city, discovered only nine 
persons. Very severe laws were enacted against the Catholics, as 
well as the Quakers, Jews, and other sects. Some of the imported 
negro slaves are said to have been Catholics. John Ury, who was 
executed for participation in the celebrated Negro Plot to burn the 
city in 1741, was charged with being a Catholic priest, a crime not 
less criminal in the province. He was a schoolmaster of before ir- 
reproachable character, and was convicted on very shallow testimony. 
Governor Clark wrote a letter, stating that the Spaniards were send- 
ing Jesuits into the country, disguised as schoolmasters and dancing- 
masters, to create revolt among the negroes, and advised the con- 
viction of Ury. This man undoubtedly died the first religious martyr 
in the New World. An old chronicler says, " Roman Catholics, and the 
cry of ' Church and State in danger' were often witnessed on elec- 
tion and other occasions in New York, also ' high and low Church' 
were resounded. 'No bishop' could be seen in capitols, on fences, 
etc. A man did noi dare to avow him a Catholic, it was odious ; a 
chapel then would have been pulled down." 

The French Jesuit missionaries from Cauada, preached among each 
tribe of the great Five Nations of Indians in the province of New 
York, and converted thousands of them. In 1683, under Governor 
Dougan, a Catholic, the desires of the people for a popular govern- 
ment were gratified. The first general assembly was convoked, and 
the rights of religious belief were guaranteed. Dougan also founded 
a college and brought English Jesuits thereto. Under him also an 
Irish colony settled in New York. In 1777, owing to the influence 
of John Jay, an article was inserted in the State Constitution declar- 
ing that no Papist could be naturalized. The first Catholic Church, 
St. Peter's, was built in 1786 on Barclay street, when there were 
some two hundred Catholics in the city. For thirty years St. Peter's 
was the only Catholic Church, when St. Patrick's Cathedral was 
built on the corner of Mott and Prince streets. In 1820 Christ 
Church on Ann street became a Catholic Church, then the Reformed 
Presbyterian on Chamber street, the Universalist on Astor place, 
and then the Presbyterian on the same street. In 1826, the number 
of Catholics had increased to thirty-five thousand, who had the ser- 
vices of four priests. The See of New York was erected in 1808, 
and raised to the dignity of an Archbishopric in 1850. The first 

450 



KEV. THOMAS S. PEESTON. 

Bishop, Eight Eev. Luke Congannon, O. P. was consecrated April 
24th, 1808, and died January 3d, 1810. Right Rev. John Connolly, O. 
P. was consecrated Bishop November 16th, 1814, and died July, 1825; 
Right Rev. John Dubois, D. L\, was consecrated October, 1826, and 
died January, 1842 ; Most Rev. John Hughes, D. D., was consecrated 
Co-Adjutor Bishop January 7th, 1838, created first Archbishop 1850, 
and died Jan. 3d, 1864. The present Archbishop, Most Rev. John Mc 
Closkey, D. L\, was consecrated Co-Adjutor to Right Rev. John 
Hughes, D. L\, transferred to the diocese of Albany May 21st, 1847, 
and succeeded to the See of New York May 6th, 1864. In 1840 
the number of churches in the city was seven, in 1850 eighteen, in 
1860 twenty-nine, and in 1873 forty-one. At the last named date 
there were more than one hundred priests officiating in the city, and 
two hundred and twenty -nine in the whole diocese, and between four 
and five hundred thousand worshipers attended the city churches. 

Father Preston has published several religious and devotional 
works. Among these may be mentioned '' Controversy of Reason 
and Revelation," "Lectures on Christian unity," and a volume of 
sermons. 

It has never been doubted by those who are aware of the ability of 
the man, that the Protestant Church lost much in both clerical schol- 
arship and efficiency by the secession of Father Preston. This has 
also been fully established by what he has accomplished in the com- 
munion of Rome. He has not been satisfied to be simply a worker in 
the line of his priestly duties, but he has become one of the most ag- 
gressive and learned champions of her faith. True and humble in 
his servitude to her doctrines, and the obligations imposed upon him, 
joyous and zealous in his convictions, though a convert from Protest- 
antism, he has made use of his learning as a theologian most effect- 
ually, for the upholding of her tenets, and the enlargement of her 
flocks. 

He writes with the ease and force which come from natural gifts, 
learning, and personal sympathy with his theme. He always is the 
master of his subject, and his sincere and ardent feelings are not less 
involved and expressed. As a preacher he is eloquent and devout 
He speaks in tenderness, and with the glow of enthusiasm, but with 
positiveness of assertion. Indifferent to all labor, he is one of the 
most far-seeing and industrious of the whole priesthood in New York. 
He has a round head, with regular features ; in his manners he is 

plain and frank, and in his temperment he is cheerful and hopeful. 

451 



REV. JOSEPH H. PRICE, D. D., 

RECTOR OF ST. STEPHEN'S EPISCOPAL, 
CHURCH, rfEW YORK. 




EV. DR. JOSEPH H. PRICE was bora in Boston. He 
was graduated at Brown University, Providence, in 1825, 
and pursued a theological course privately in Boston, 

fwith Bishops Doane and Alonzo Potter, then rectors of 
churches in that city. He was ordained a deacon of the Epis- 
: copal church in 1829, and priest in 1830. About two years 
were spent in missionary labor in different parts of Massachusetts, 
and in the temporary supply of the pulpits of St Paul's Church, 
Salem, and Grace Church, Providence. An invitation to Gardiner, 
Maine, and another to Portland, were declined during the same period. 
After being assistant of Dr. Hawk, at St. Thomas', New York, he 
accepted a call to St Paul's, Albany, about 1833, where he remained 
three years and a half In July, 1837, he became rector at St 
Stephen's Church, New York, which is his position at this time. St 
Stephen's parish was organized in 1805, by persons who withdrew 
from Zion Church, then in Mott street, and selected for their first 
rector a Mr. Shoebeck. The late Bishop Moore, of Virginia, was also 
rector for some five years. Some years since the church, an ancient 
looking brick building on the corner of Broome and Chrystie s reets, 
was sold. The congregation now worship in an edifice purchased 
by them, in West Forty-sixth street, in 1873, of the church of the 
Advent, the two congregations becoming united. 

Dr. Price is an active man in his denomination, and belongs to 
what is known as the high church party. A warm partisan of the 
late Bishop Benj. T. Onderdonk, he is still a disbeliever in the 
charges for which that prelate was suspended. He was president of 
the diocesan convention of 1861, and represented the diocese in the 
general convention of 1863. He has been president of the Missionary 
Committee, and is now chairman of the Standing Committee, and 
trustee of the Episcopal General Theological Seminary, vice-president 

452 



EEV. JOSEPH H. PRICE, D. D. 

of the Bible and Common Prayer Book Society and Tract Society, 
and a member of the Executive Committee of the Church Book 
Society. His degree of D. D. was received from Columbia College. 

Dr. Price is above the average height, and of venerable appearance. 
His head is one of the round, trim-looking sort, with silver-gray hair, 
well-marked features, and a most agreeable countenance. He looks 
as he is, a man of intelligence, frank, unassuming manners, and a 
good heart. He is social and cheerful, showing that neither the frosts 
of age nor the experience of a prolonged life have in any manner 
affected spirits naturally genial. When he meets you he has a 
pleasant smile and a warm grasp of the hand, and even a stranger 
can feel no reserve with him. Then there is such freedom from all 
disguise in his sentiments, and he is so chatty and kindly, that he 
secures not only attention, bxit regard. A conscientious Christian in 
all his habits and intercourse, he is not lacking in the due practice of 
those other qualities which best display the gentleman and man. 

Dr. Price's sermons are excellent moral lessons. His delivery is 
rapid, and his voice is loud. He is almost without gesture of any 
kind. As a teacher of truths, and as a guide in all the proprieties 
of morals and religion, as well as a genial associate in the private 
walks of life, he is greatly valued. 

453 



REY. SAMUEL IRENMS PRIME, D. D., 

EDITOR OF THE ]VEW YORK OBSERVER. 




,EV. DR. SAMUEL IREN^EUS PRIME was born at 
Ballston, Saratoga County, New York, November 4th, 
1812. He is an elder brother of the well-known author, 
William C. Prime. At the age of thirteen years he entered 
Williams College, and was graduated in 1829. Having 
concluded a course at the Princeton Theological Seminary, he 
became a member of the Presbyterian church ; but, in 1840, 
from ill-health, was obliged to abandon regular preaching. He then 
became associated in the editorial charge of the New York Observer, 
one of the chief organs of the Presbyterian denomination. For more 
than thirty years his able pen has been employed editorially, and as 
a literary contributor and traveling correspondent in this paper. His 
contributions, under the signature of " Irenasus," have had great pop- 
ularity, and under his management the Observer has taken the rank 
of one of the leading religious journals, and been also noted for its 
conservative political views. In 1855, he published "Travels in 
Europe and the East," in two volumes, and a work on Switzerland. 
These works were the results of an extended journey in Europe and 
Asia, in 1853. He is also the author of several volumes of a religious 
character, including " Thoughts on the death of Little Children," and 
"The Power of Player." The last named is a sketch of the Fulton 
Street Prayer Meeting, in New York, and has been translated into 
several European languages. More recently he has traveled exten- 
sively in other directions, and written another fascinating volume, 
entitled "The Alhambra and the Kremlin — The South and the 
North of Europe." Another recent book is called " Under the 
Trees." He was Chairman of the Committee having charge of the 
meeting of the Evangelical Alliance in New York, in 1873, and 

454 



REV. SAMUEL IREN^US PRIME, D.D. 

much of the success of that great Christian gathering was due to 
his efforts. In May, 1874, he was elected one of the Yice Presidents 
of the American Tract Society in the place of the Rev. Dr. Gardiner 
Spring, deceased. 

During all the years of his retirement from the active ministry, 
Dr. Prime has occasionally preached, sometimes, indeed, supplying 
the pulpits of absent ministers for a considerable period. His learn- 
ing and literary gifts make bis sermons highly attractive, and his 
services have been eagerly sought for in the manner stated. But his 
chief popularity has arisen from his writings in the Observer, and his 
books. In the first his style is clear and vigorous, with the intro- 
duction of an exquisite humor in some of his lighter articles ; a.nd 
in the second he writes with most brilliant descriptive powers, mak- 
ing everjr scene and object as vivid as apt and graceful language can 
depict it, and treating all moral and social questions with a deep, 
philosophical reflectiveness. 

In appearance he is about of the medium height and sparely made. 
His head is of the intellectual type, with a face of exceeding amiabil- 
ity. His manners are unassuming and polite, and he is of an unusually 
cheerful, genial disposition. He is fond of social life, especially with 
high-bred and Christian people, and on such occasions is the life of the 
circle. The coimtry and flowers, and children, and everything chat 
is beautiful and pure, attract and delight him. His far-off travels, 
his rambles at home, his association with the high and learned of al- 
most all lands, his scholarly attainments, and his literary talents, are 
all matters which serve to give a charm and influence to his society. 
Those who know him intimately, esteem and love him, while by the 
public at large he is regarded as one of the strong men for all good 
works. 

455 



REV. JAMES M. PULLMAN, 

PASTOR OF THE SIXTH XJlVrVli:iiSAT,IST 

CHURCH, JTEW YORK. 




)EV. JAMES M. PULLMAN" was bom at Portland, 
Chatauque comity, New York, August 21st, 18S6. His 
early academic studies were under Rev. Dr. French, at the 
Albion Academy, Albion, Orleans county. He studied 
§§h theology at the St. Lawrence Divinity School, at Canton, where 
S<3 he was graduated in 1861. Having accepted a call to the First 
Universalist Church of Troy, he was ordained and installed to its 
pastorship in May, 1862. His ministrations were very successful in 
this field, and he remained in it for six years and eleven months. 
About this period the Sixth society of New York was obliged to 
give up their pastor, the Eev. Elbridge Gerry Brooks, who had ac- 
cepted a position in connection with the Board of Missions, and Mr. 
Pullman received a call to this church. He accepted, and entered 
upon his duties in March, 1868. 

Universalism was first preached in the city of New York by Rev. 
John Murray, in September, 1770, which had then a population of 
fifteen or eighteen thousand. He preached in the Baptist Meeting 
House on " Golden Hill," somewhere in the vicinity of the present 
Gold street. It is stated that he had large congregations, and on his re- 
turn to preach again in the following year was received with great 
enthusiasm. He made a third visit, but declined to remain perma- 
nently. After the close of the revolution, two eminent physicians of 
the city, Dr. Joseph Young and Dr. William Pitt Smith, published 
books against the doctrine of endless misery. In 1793 the first 
Universalist periodical ever published in America was issued in New 
York, called The Free Universal Magazine, of which two numbers 
were issued in New York, and two afterward in Baltimore. 

Prior to 1800, Rev. Edward Mitchell, a seceder from the Metho- 
dists, established a new congregation called " The Society of United 
Christian Friends," who held to the doctrine of the final salvation of 

456 



REV. JAMES M. PULLMAN. 

all mankind, but were never in actual fellowship with the Univer- 
salist denomination. At first they worshiped in Vandewater street ; 
and subsequently a church was created for their use in Magazine 
(now Pearl) street, between Broadway and Chatham street. This 
was the first church ever built in the State of New York dedicated 
to the service of God as the Saviour of all men. Mr. Mitchell 
preached with success, and a large church was erected at the corner 
of Duane street and City Hall Place. Mr. Mitchell died in 1835, and 
the Society then called Eev. Mr. Pickering; but it declined in num- 
bers, and finally became extinct 

This Mr. Mitchell was an eloquent man, and his preaching was 
one of the sensations of that day. In a Fast-day sermon preached 
during the prevalence of the yellow fever, in 1822, by the celebrated 
Eev. Dr. Samuel H. Cox, then a minister of the city, he gave as one 
reason for the prevalence of the fever that " Universalism was in its 
meridian in New York," and said " there were thousands who be- 
lieved but would not avow it : that the preachers were murderers of 
men's souls, making men the most profligate while living and the 
most desperate sinners when they die." One of Mr. Mitchell's ser- 
mons was sent to the Doctor, with a request that he would examine 
it, and point out everything he might find in it "calculated to bring 
down the wrath ofGrodupon the city." The sermon was returned 
with the leaves uncut, and in the same envelope in which it was sent, 
with these words upon it : " Procul, procul, este profani /" which, 
means, "Far away, O far away, ye profane!" 

In June of the same year Mrs. Marie Townsend was excommuni- 
cated from Dr. Spring's Brick Presbyterian Church on account of 
her faith in Universalism. The Session passed the following sen- 
tence : 

"Whereas, Marie Townsend had been, by sufficient proof, convicted of persever- 
ing disbelief of the doctrines of the everlasting punishment of the wicked, and, 
after much admonition and prayer, obstinately refusing to hear the Church, and 
hath manifested no evidence of repentance; therefore, in the name and by the 
authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, this Session pronounce her to be excluded from 
the communion of the Church." 

Dr. Spring pronounced the excommunication from the pulpit on 
the following Sunday in these words : 

"It has become my painful duty to announce that Marie Townsend, a member 
of this church, has for two years past persevered in denying the doctrine of the ever- 
lasting punishment of the wicked, and has presented her children for dedication at 
a place of pretended worship, where the doctrine is taught that the wicked shall be 
saved as well as the righteous." 

457 



REV. JAMES M. PULLMAN. 

In the summer of 1823 the Second Society of United Christian 
Friends was formed, and they erected a church on the corner of 
Prince and Orange streets. Kev. Nehemiah Dodge, a convert from 
the Baptists, had charge of this congregation ; and after him Rev. 
Abner Kneeland, of Philadelphia, who afterward went over to a 
desperate infidelity. In 1829, a small body of seceders from Mr. 
Mitchell's and Kneeland's congregations formed a society, and pur- 
chased a little chapel in Grand street, opposite the head of Division 
street. Rev. Dr. Sawyer, now eminent in the Universalist denomina- 
tion, but then just out of college, became the pastor of this Society 
in April, 1830, it having only eleven members. In 1831, Philo 
Price started the Christian Messenger, which ruined him. The paper 
is still in existence, and is called the Christian Ambassador. In 
1832, Dr. Sawyer hired a church in Orchard street, which was after- 
wards purchased by his congregation. The Third Society, now wor- 
shiping in Bleecker street, originated in 1834. and the first meetings 
were held in a little church in Sixth avenue, opposite Amity street 
Later, the Fourth Society, now Dr. Chapin's, was organized, and 
after several removals a church on Fifth avenue was erected. 
The Fifth Society was organized in the neighborhood of the Dry 
Dock, and was finally located in a church in Fourth street, near 
Avenue C, but is now disbanded. 

The Sixth Universalist Society, or Church of Our Saviour, now 
under the pastorship of Mr. Pullman, was organized in 1851, with a 
few members. In 1852, the Rev. Nelson Snell was called as the 
first pastor. The first preaching was in a hall corner of Eighth 
avenue and "West Twenty-fifth street, but the congregation pur- 
chased a church and adjoining dwelling-house in Twenty-fourth 
street, near Ninth avenue, for $6,500. This church was occupied 
January 23d, 1853, and on the 23d of June following was reorganized 
with twenty members. Mr. Snell resigned after a pastorship of 
more than two years, and was succeeded by the Rev. Asher Moore, 
who remained three years. In July, 1858, the Rev. J. H. Shepherd 
became the pastor, but resigned after a pastorate of one year. Dur- 
ing his term of service a church in West Twentieth street was pur- 
chased, and after being refitted at considerable expense, was opened 
for worship on Sunday, May 22d, 1859. Mr. Brooks succeeded Mr. 
Shepherd, and received installation on the first Sunday of November, 
1859. He remained with the congregation eight years, and during 
this time the congregation increased, and a church edifice in West 

458 



REV. JAMES M. PULLMAN. 

Thirty -fifth street, near Sixth avenue, was purchased and occupied. 
The church in Twentieth street was sold in 1856, and for nearly a 
year the society worshiped in Everett Hall, corner of Broadway and 
Thirty -fourth street. They expected to have bought ground and 
built a church, but at length the Episcopal Church of the Resurrec- 
tion (Rev. Dr. Flagg's), and rectory adjoining, were purchased for the 
sum of thirty-four thousand dollars, and soon after taken possession 
of. In 1873 this property was sold, and a new church is to be 
built 

The prosperity of this and the other Societies of the denomina- 
tion, shows that the Universalists have come forth from the back 
streets and dingy halls of former times. They no longer go to their 
places of devotion with every man's finger pointed at them as the 
accursed of the city. They have built churches on the grand avenues 
and best streets ; they have social influence and wealth, and they have 
learned and eloquent ministers. These ministers, too, are no longer 
mere enthusiasts, seeking notoriety or martyrdom through the ad- 
vocacy of an unpopular belief, but they are men educated to their 
calling, and able to defend what they preach from a standpoint of 
scholarship. They have schools, colleges, and universities, and, in a 
word, they have command of all of those facilities which are necessary 
for the permanency and success of their sect, as one of the religious 
bodies of the land. To reach this position it has taken in New York, 
one hundred years of fidelity to principle, of moral heroism under 
discouragement, and of social ban and martyrdom. 

Mr. Pullman is a representative man in organizing and conduct- 
ing the religious work of his denomination. His energy and practi- 
cal judgment, pre-eminently fit him for these duties. In 1869 he 
organized and become President of the Universalist Young Men's 
Christian Association, of New York, which has Library and Read- 
ing Rooms in Sixth avenue. He was elected in the same year Secre- 
tary of the General Convention, the body which directs the affairs 
of the denomination at larsje. 

Mr. Pullman is of the medium height, and well-proportioned 
He has a good-sized head, and regular, rather handsome features. 
His eyes are clear, with a modest glance ; and his whole face shows 
him to be a person of genial and kindly characteristics. His man- 
ners are natural and unaffected He does not dress at all in the 
clerical style, and he might as readily pass for a merchant as a divine. 

In fact, the avoidance of everything to call him personally into 

459 



REV. JAMES M. PULLMAN. 

notice is one of the rules of his life. He is a warm-hearted man, a 
good husband, a gentle father, and has all those ardent and sym- 
pathetic feelings of the heart which lend such a charm to social ties 
and interminglings. He carries smiles and cheerfulness wherever he 
goes ; and there are few men who are more warmly regarded in per- 
sonal friendship than himself. 

He is a hard worker in the ministry. Universilist ministers have 
in no sense an easy office. They must study hard, and be ready at 
all times to meet the assaults which learning, and ignorance as well, 
make upon their faith. Mr. Pullman is one of the kind who is al- 
ways ready for the enemy, and always at his post expecting him. 
His mind is clear, fertile, and active, and his powers of argument and 
explanation are strong and comprehensive, and well suited to the 
task of expounding the Scriptures. In conversation and public 
speaking he has a pleasant and winning voice, and his manners are 
always gentle and fascinating. His people become strongly attached 
to him, and even strangers are always favorably impressed. He is a 
faithful pastor, and is held in high esteem by his ministerial brethren 
for his talents and conscientious labors. 

Mr. Pullman is a man who is well calculated to spread his faith, 
and also maintain the rising reputation of his denomination. He 
has marked talents in the pulpit and out of it for his ministerial 
work, and he has a force of character and a personal dignity which 
will always maintain him reputably in his public position. The 
cause of Universalism will make no backward strides while in his 
hands; but, on the contrary, will receive all the advantages which 
must arise from his diligence in duty, and earnest religious life. 



460 



i 






l/^J 



-> 



REV. ALFRED P. PUTNAM, D. D., 

PASTOR, OF THE CHURCH OF THE SAVIOUR, 

(UNITARIAN,) BROOKLYN. 




EV. DR. ALFRED P. PUTNAM was born at North 
Danvers, Mass., January 10th, 1827. His father was the 
Hon. Elias Putnam, a prominent and influential man in 
Essex County. Like all the Putnams in the land he was 
descended from John Putnam, who came to this country from 
England in 1634, and settled in Salem, Mass. The father and 
mother of Elias were Israel and Anna Putnam. Anna's maiden 
name was Endicott, and she was a lineal descendant of John Endi- 
cott, the old Puritan Governor of Massachusetts. Dr. Putnam is 
the eighth of a family of eleven children. An older brother, Israel 
Alden Putnam, was a graduate of the Theological School at Cam- 
bridge, Mass., in 1848, and died in October of the same year. He 
was a man of noble promise, and his sudden death was deeply and 
widely lamented. 

The subject of our notice received his earlier education at various 
academies. At fifteen years of age he was clerk in the Bank of his 
native town, of which his father was for some time the honored 
President, and was engaged in 1846-7 as bookkeeper to Messrs. Allen 
& Minot, Boston. He spent a year at Dartmouth College, whence he 
proceeded to Brown University, where be was graduated in 1852. He 
then taught a High School at Wenham, Mass., for six months, when 
he entered the Divinity School at Harvard, where he was graduated 
July 17th, 1855, having been licensed to preach the winter previous by 
the Boston Association of Ministers. He had calls to settle at 
Watertown, Bridgewater, Sterling, and Roxbury, choosing the last, 
where he assumed, on December 19lh, 1855, the pastorship of the 
Mount Pleasant Congregational Unitarian Church. He was married 
January 10th, 1856, to Miss Louise P. Preston, daughter of Samuel 
Preston, Esq., of Danvers, who died June 12th, 1860, leaving no child- 
ren. He entered into a second marriage, December 27th, 1865, to 

431 






REV. ALFRED P. PUTNAM, D. D. 

Miss Eliza King Buttrick, daughter of Ephraim Buttrick, Esq., of 
Cambridge, formerly a prominent member of the Middlesex bar. By 
this union there have been born four children. The affliction caused 
by the death of his first wife and ill-health, induced him to seek a 
change of scene and climate. On May 28th, 1862, he sailed from Bos- 
ton on an extended tour in Europe, Egypt, and the Holy Land, 
reaching Boston again, after an absence of nearly sixteen months, 
September 16th, 1863. His travels have formed subjects for various 
lectures, and also articles for papers and magazines. One course 
was upon the History and Buins of Egypt, another on his travels 
over the Desert and in Palestine, and a third on the Beligious Aspects 
of Europe. 

On September 28th, 1864, Dr. Putnam was installed as pastor of 
the Church of the Saviour, Brooklyn, to which he had been called 
as the successor of the Rev. Dr. Frederick A. Farley. The Society is 
large, and one of the wealthiest in Brooklyn. 

Unitarian worship was first held in Brooklyn on Sunday, August 
17th, 1833. Previous to this time, most of the persons of that faith 
attended the churches in New York. The Rev. David H. Barlow 
was the first pastor of the Society, which took the name of the First 
Unitarian Church of Brooklyn, serving nearly four years. On 
April 11th, 1838, the Rev. Frederick W. Holland was ordained a min- 
ister of the Society, and labored in the pastorship until April 1st, 
1842. Disaffection in the Society had led to the formation of a 
second church, which held its first public worship January 3d, 1841. 
Rev. Frederick A. Farley conducted the services, and was called as 
the first pastor, beginning his permanent work in August of the 
same year. On the 1st of November, the Society organized under 
the name of the Second Unitarian Church of Brooklyn, being mostly 
composed of members who had withdrawn from the First Church. 
Later the two Societies were united under the corporate name of the 
First Unitarian Congregational Church of Brooklyn. Mr. Farley 
preached at the first service of the consolidated Society, on the first 
Sunday of April, 1842, and on the 31st of May, was unanimously 
elected the pastor. On the 24th of April, 1844, the elegant and im- 
posing brown-stone Gothic Church now occupied by the congregation, 
on the corner of Pierrepont street and Monroe Place, was dedicated 
with most interesting services. Mr. Farley was installed on the fol- 
lowing day. The entire cost of the land, church furniture, etc., was 
£34 949.61 ; the edifice was dedicated as the Church of the Saviour. 

v ' 462 



EEV. ALFRED P. PUTNAM, D. D. 

The high character of the members, and the pre-eminent fitness of 
the pastor for his work, soon gave the Society an importance in the 
community, which it has never lost. After twenty-two years of ser- 
vice in Brooklyn, Dr. Farley resigned his position, and preached his 
farewell sermon in November, 1863. Dr. Putnam was called May 
2d, 1864, and installed in the following September. 

In 1850, this Society witnessed the formation of a Second Uni- 
tarian Church in Brooklyn, and in 1867, contributed $10,000 for the 
erection of Unity Chapel for a Third Society. Other works of the 
Society were the establishment of its Furman street mission school, 
in 1865, and of the Brooklyn Liberal Christian Union, one of 
the most deserving institutions of the city, about the same period 
In 1865-66 it erected the beautiful chapel which adjoins the church 
at a cost of $20,000, and in 1866 spent $6,000 in repairs on the 
church edifice, It has not a cent of debt, and means to have none. 
Its contributions are always most liberal. There are about two hun- 
dred and fifty communicants, more than a hundred of whom have 
united with the church during the present pastorate. 

When in Massachusetts Dr. Putnam became a constant contrib- 
utor to the Monthly Religious Magazine published in Boston. 
Many political and anti-slavery articles from his pen appeared in the 
Roxbury Journal, and the Christian Enquirer, published in New 
York. He was actively identified with the anti-slavery agitation in 
New England ; and more recently he has taken a great interest in 
political reform. He is now a contributor to the Unitarian Review, 
Liberal Christian, and other denominational publications. 

Before Lyceums and Literary Institutions he has delivered lec- 
tures and addresses on a variety of subjects, among others on " The 
North American Indian ;" " Greece and the Eevolution of 1843 ;" 
" History of the Art of Printing ;" " The Education of Women ;'" 
" America seen at a distance ;" " The Nile ;" " The World's Debt to 
Egypt ;" and " History of Universalism in the Old World and the 
New." In 1862, at the dinner of Americans in London to celebrate 
the 4th of July, he replied most eloquently to the toast, " The Con- 
stitution of the United States." During the winter of 1867-8, he 
gave to his people and the public a course of Sunday evening 
lectures on the "Eeligions of Antiquity," — of Egypt, Greece, Eome, 
Persia, China, Arabia, and India ; and in 1872-73, he delivered a 
course of nine lectures on " Sacred Songs and Singers." He has 
published eight sermons on the following subjects : " On the death of 

463 



EEV. ALFRED P. PUTNAM, D. D 

Eev. George Bradford ;" " A Happy New Year ;" " On the Death of 
Edward Everett ;" " Freedom and Largeness of the Christian Faith:" 
" Unitarianism in Brooklyn ;" " The Unitarian Denomination in 
America, Past and Present ;" " Tribute to the Memory of Mrs. 
Elizabeth Franklin Andree ;" " Broken Pillars ;" a lecture on " The 
Life to Come ;" and a controversial tract entitled. " Can Two walk 
together except they be Agreed ?" These and all his other produc- 
tions have had a wide circle of readers by reason of their unusual 
brilliancy of scholarship and composition. The feast is a rich one 
to partake of, but we can only permit ourselves a single brief extract 
from the lecture, •' The Life to Come." 

"The test of the soul — what is it? It is indeed a sense of divine favor ; it is a 
consciousness of purity ; it is a likeness to Christ, and oneness with God ; it is 
harmony iu its fullest, highest meaning. But it is something beside all this, 
and something upon which all this is conditioned, and witb which it is forever 
associated, — a wise and vigorous exercise of the powers and faculties of our God- 
given natures. Growth is a law of our being, and it is dependent upon activity. With- 
out work, struggle, and aspiration, we are not happy : we rust, and we retrograde. 
There is always a keen delight in putting forth our energies for some noble object 
or end ; and it is thus that we inevitably develop into what is larger and better. 
The life of Heaven hereafter as now, is a life of constant, ceaseless exertion, while 
it must needs be free from the pain, fatigue, weariness, and discomforts which so 
often attend the exertions of the body here. It is because we always in our minds 
associate these with the idea of action that we so often indulge the hope that our 
future state will be one of profound tranquility and inertia. But these constitute no 
part of the inheritance of the blessed life that is to be ; unencumbered and unembar- 
rassed by the ills of the flesh and the hindrances of its present material surroundings, 
the soul will there enjoy a freedom which it here has never known, and the very awak- 
ening and tension of its glorious, unfettered, and emancipated strength, will be to 
it a zest and joy more blissful far than the most favored condition of supine, igno- 
ble security of which it can possibly conceive. It is thus and thus alone, that the 
immortal spirit ascends for ever and ever, nearer and still nearer to God, more and 
more comes to be like God, and loses itself deeper and deeper in God's bosom of 
immeasurable and eternal love." 

Dr. Putnam is of a tall, compact, erect figure, with a pale com- 
plexion and sandy hair and whiskers. He has a large round head ; 
the expression of his face gives the highest token of amiability, cul- 
tivated breeding, and mental capacity. With the thoughtful, com- 
posed countenance there is the bright, beaming eye, ever kindling 
with the heart's best sympathies, and with a dignified reserve there 
is an honest cordiality. A glance shows you that he is one of those 
calm natures guided almost wholly by reflection. He is never moved 
by mere impulse ; he has no excitability, but the most insignificant 
and the most important acts are alike subjected to mental considera 

464 



REV. ALFRED P. PUTNAM, D. D. 

tion. Hence to ardent temperaments lie seems cold, and sometimes 
stern ; but, after all, the coldness and severity are entirely in the out- 
ward man, having no relation to the heart when once reached Amia- 
ble in the extreme, gentle as a child, nobly sincere, his susceptibili- 
ties are tender and true, though somewhat guarded by a natural and 
unconscious reserve. 

Dr. Putnam preaches with much effectiveness. His style of speak- 
ing is subdued, and without much gesture, but his language has all 
the power which scholarly finish and earnest sincerity can impart to 
it There is great comprehensiveness in his thought, and he is able 
to give expression to it in terms of rare conciseness, and not less of 
beauty. All that he says has this vigor of meaning and force of ap- 
plication, and much of it is delivered in the most classic and glowing 
picturings of eloquence. In his argument he addresses himself to an 
elaborate and practical consideration of his subject, and you are led 
along with him, without tedio.usness, but rather allured by the at- 
tractive interweavings of a warm and chaste fancy. No intelligent 
person need be told of the irresistible fascination of polished diction, 
and of the majestic utterance in language which rolls its awakening 
echoes upon the understanding, as the reverberating thunder startles 
the timid heart. And herein is it that this gifted preacher excels. 
Your attention is instantly riveted by the smoothness of his periods, 
and the elegance of sentiment which usher you to profound discus- 
sion and lofty imagery. From his pen and his lips the English tongue 
speaks in its grand completeness, and mental inspiration attains its 
sublimer conceptions. 

He received his degree of D. D. from his Alma Mater, Brown 
University, in 1871. 

He belongs to' the old or Channing school of Unitarianism. Hold- 
ing to his particular tenets with all the strength of his intellect and 
his love, he stands prominent among their ablest expounders, and in 
a pure, consistent life seeks their practical illustration before his fel- 



465 



REV. DANIEL McL. QUACKENBUSH, D. D., 

PASTOE OIT THE PROSPECT HILL REF015ME1) 
CHURCH, EIGHTY-FIFTH STREET, NEW YORK:. 




'EV. DE. DANIEL McL. QUACKENBUSH was born in 
the city of New York, March 9th, 1819. His early stu- 
dies were at the High School in Crosby street, of which 
Professor (xriscom, a noted Quaker scholar of that day, 
\|p was the principal. Among the pupils of this school, who have 
«^3 distinguished themselves, may be mentioned Captain James 
Lawrence, of the United States Navy, who fell on board the Chesa- 
peake ; ex-Judge Roosevelt, and Daniel Lord, of 'the New York bar, 
and Hon. Schuyler Colfax. Dr. Quackenbush was graduated at 
Columbia College in 1836, and in theology at the Seminary of the 
Reformed Church at New Brunswick in 1839. He was licensed by 
the Presbytery of New York in 1840, and in the following year was 
ordained and installed by 'the Presbytery of Cambridge, as pastor of 
the Presbyterian church at Hebron, Washington county, New York, 
where he remained five years. He then went to a leading Re- 
formed church in Ulster county, New York, which position he 
held two years, and then went to the Reformed church at Eish- 
kill-on-the-Hudson, where he remained four years. His next field of 
labor was a chapel of the Reformed church on the Heights, Brooklyn, 
situated in Summit street, South Brooklyn, where he was engaged 
three years, when he was called to the Reformed church at Hastings, 
New York, where he remained two years, and then went to his pre- 
sent position as pastor of the Prospect Hill Reformed church, in 
Eighty-fifth street. He received his degree of D. D. from the Uni- 
versity of New York about 1 863. 

This church was organized in 1860. The first preaching was in 
a little hall at the corner of Eighty-sixth street and Third avenue, 
but during the first year a temporary building was put up on Third 
avenue, between Eighty-seventh and Eighty-eighth streets. In 

January, 1861, Dr. Quackenbush commenced his duties as the first 

466 



KEV. DANIEL MCL. QUACKENBUSH, D. D. 

pastor. The congregation increased, and, after a few years, it be- 
came necessary to provide other accommodations. In 1867, an 
edifice on Eighty-fifth street, between Second and Third avenue, 
formerly occupied by the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, was 
purchased by the Reformed church congregation, and, after extensive 
improvements, occupied by them. 

Dr. Quackenbush is about of the medium height, equally propor- 
tioned, and erect. He has a head of ample size, with good features. 
He is not a showy or a demonstrative man, but he has the valuable 
quality of bringing a large amount of practical judgment to bear in 
all cases, and thus wields as much power as those who make more 
pretentions. While there is a measure of dignity about his manners, 
they are invariably courteous and genial. He has a good flow of 
language in conversation, which he always seeks to make agreeable 
and interesting. In truth, he is one of those plain, sober-minded, 
sensible men who make hosts of friends, and do the largest amoimt 
of work in professional life, with the least noise and show about it. 
He is a public man, discharging constant pubic duties, and still he 
has all the modesty of a person in the utmost retirement of life. He 
confines himself strictly to the limits of his pastoral duties and obli- 
gations, and never neglects them for those public appearances which 
are the occasion for so much notoriety on the part of so many of the 
clergy. He is an old-fashioned minister, who attends to his own 
flock, who goes about doing good, and who exercises his office solely 
m its spiritual relations to the salvation of sinners. 

He is a matter-of-fact preacher. He indulges in no rhapsodies, 
no flourishes of rhetoric, no appeals to bigoted sentiments ; but he 
discourses in a common-sense vein of the great fundamental doc- 
trines, and applies them seriously to every-day life. No man can 
ever take exception to a word that he utters; but on the contrary the 
most indifferent hearer is moved to expressions of commendation. 
He would be called a plain preacher also in his manners, for they are 
without display, and have only the simple naturalness of the con- 
versational style. 

Dr. Quackenbush is a valuable man to his church and to the 
community. He is conscientious in his life, and in the performance 
of all his duties as a pastor. Seeking the spiritual development 
of his people, he is a follower of the Apostolic example, rather than 
covetous of personal distinction. 

467 



REY. ALEXANDER REED, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE SOUTH PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH", BROOKLYN. 




>EV. DR. ALEXANDER EEED was born in Washing- 
ton county, Pennsylvania. September 28th, 1832. He 
is the son of the Hon. Robert R. Reed, M. D., an emi- 
nent citizen of Pennsylvania. He was graduated at Wash- 
ington College in 1851, and at the Western Theological 
^fg Seminary in 1856. In adopting the clerical profession he 
followed the example of many of his ancestors, for he is descended 
from a ministerial family. Both of his father's grandfathers were 
ministers of the Church of Scotland, and the Reed family has fur- 
nished a long line of ministers from the time of the Rev. James Reed, 
first pastor of Banchory-Ternan, after the Reformation. Dr. Reed 
informs us that the name was originally spelled Reid, after the 
Scotch style, but was changed to its present mode by his grand- 
father. He was ordained and installed pastor of the Upper Octorara 
church, Chester county, Pennsylvania, in October, 1857, where he 
remained some time. In December, 1864, he was installed as the 
pastor of the Central Presbyterian church, Philadelphia. Here he 
preached with great success for some nine years, making a wide 
reputation for learning and eloquence. He finally accepted a call 
to the South Presbyterian church, Brooklyn, where he was installed 
on Sunday, June 8th, 1873. 

The South Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn was incorporated 
on the 20th of July, 1842. The Rev. William W. Patton was im- 
mediately employed as a preacher for the congregation for the term 
of three months. On the evening of Sunday, September 18th, 1842, 
the Rev. Dr. Cox, and the Rev. Messrs. Duffield, Rowland, Fairchild, 
and Bidwell, acting as a committee of the Presbytery of Brooklyn, 
proceeded to constitute the South Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, 
consisting of seventy-two members. At the same time six elders 

and three deacons were publicly inducted to their respective offices. 

468 



REV. ALEXANDER REED, D. D. 

The Eev. Samuel T. Speer was installed as the first pastor on the 
14th of May, 1843, and thus remained for about twenty-seven years. 
The present church edifice, on the corner of Clinton and Amity 
streets, was erected in 1845, at an expense of thirty-thousand dollars, 
including the cost of the ground on which it stands. It was dedicated 
to the worship of God in the month of July of the same year. In 1845 
about fourteen thousand dollars were subscribed and paid for the erec- 
tion of the church edifice, and in 1848 two thousand and seven hun- 
dred dollars were raised to cancel a floating debt From December, 
1849, to December, 1853, fourteen thousand dollars were paid on the 
mortgage debt contracted in erecting the church edifice. The present 
membership is about four hundred and seven, and the Sunday School 
has between three and four hundred pupils. After the resignation 
of Dr. Speer, the Rev. Mr. Patton was called, who remained only a 
short time, having been elected a professor in the Presbyterian Theo- 
logical Seminary in Chicago, when Dr. Reed became the third pastor 
of the church. 

On the question of the union of the two branches of the Presby- 
terian Church, Dr. Reed took decided ground from the first agitation 
of the object, and was an ardent advocate of all measures leading to 
promote that object. He was chosen to preside over the meeting of 
ministers and elders, which called the great convention of all 
branches of the Presbyterian churches, held in Philadelphia in Sep- 
tember, 1867, and (with others) called and addressed the first meet- 
ing held in favor of the basis adopted by the general Assemblies 
of the two branches in 1868 ; this meeting was held in Dr. Reed's 
church, then in Philadelphia. 

During the war Dr. Reed performed a most patriotic and efficient 
part as a General Superintendent of the Christian Commission, and 
had much to do with getting it into thorough working order. He 
is a trustee of the General Assembly, and one of the trustees of the 
Presbyterian House ; has been a member of all the boards of the 
church, chairman of the Committee of the Relief Fund, and is now 
President of the Board of Publication. He was Moderator of the 
Synod of Philadelphia in 1868, and has always been an active mem- 
ber of the ecclesiastical bodies of the church, and several times a 
delegate to the General Assembly. He received his degree of D.D. 
from Princeton College in 1865. 

He has delivered various exceedingly entertaining lectures on 

popular subjects, and is in much demand as a platform speaker. 

469 



EEV. ALEXANDER SEED, D. D. 

Among his lectures may be named "American Boy," "Secret of 
Success," and "Italy as I saw it" 

When Dr. Reed was about removing from Philadelphia, one of 
the leading Methodist preachers remarked "that the vote of the en- 
tire Conference could be had if it would induce Dr. Reed to remain." 
The following is an accurate account of this distinguished man : 
"Dr. Reed's course in the ministry has been steadily upward. He 
is a man of sound judgment, great sagacity, and thorough scholar- 
ship : an active promoter of revivals, and full of vitality, which he 
imparts to the congregations under his charge. As a preacher he is 
earnest and eloquent; at once instructive and practical, alive to the 
issues of the day, fully abreast of the times, and specially attractive to 
the young, never preaching to empty benches. He is a gentleman of 
high culture, of fine moral qualities, and warm sympathies, and 
eminently successful as a pastor." A letter before us, from a high 
source, thus speaks of Dr. Reed : " Learned in the sciences, familiar 
with the teaching of the doubters from the days of the Greek sophists 
to the Maudsleys and Darwins of the present epoch, himself a dispu- 
tant and logician of the highest training, this preacher impresses not 
less by the learning he exhibits, than by the beautiful and unwaver- 
ing faith that is seen to be in him." 

Dr. Reed is of the average height, and has a round, compact, and 
erect figure. His head and face are large, with finely moulded 
features. He looks pale, as if his scholarly application was excessive, 
and his expression is that of the thoroughly intellectual and de- 
cidedly amiable man. His manners are warmly polite, and with his 
conversation, so agreeable that he wins your good-wdl on the instant. 
In social life he is noted for an inexhaustible fund of humor and 
anecdote. One reason of his popularity as a lecturer arises from the 
fact that his productions abound in brilliant wit, sprightly anecdote, 
and graphic sketches of individual peculiarities, provoking outbursts 
of laughter, and rounds of applause. As a speaker his voice is rich in 
tone, and his gestures are timely and expressive. Profound in his 
learning, strong in his faith, eloquent, with pen and tongue, he 
preaches with a power equal to any clergyman of his day. Admired 
and beloved in the social circle for his many fascinations of char- 
acter, he is not less esteemed in the church and community, for 
splendor of talents and practical usefulness. 

470 



REV. WILLIAM MID, 

PASTOR OF THE IttcHOUGAE STREET 
BAPTIST CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




•EV. WILLIAM REED was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, 
in the year 1812. He is of good Scotch Presbyterian 
stock, from a very remote ancestry. He was the subject 
of l'eligious impressions and resolutions from early child- 
hood. At the age of seventeen he was baptized in one of the 
beautiful little lochs of the west of Scotland, and united with 
the Baptist church in Scotland under the pastoral care of the Rev. 
James Blair. His father likewise withdrew from the Presbyterian 
church and joined the Baptist denomination. In his nineteenth 
year, after frequent efforts in speaking in the congregations, he re- 
ceived, unsought, the license of the church to improve his gifts. In 
1832 he came to the United States. He was engaged to some extent 
in secular business, but the improvement of his gifts, and the urgency 
of his Christian friends induced him to consider the subject of devot- 
ing himself exclusively to the Christian ministry. His earlier educa- 
tion had been in connection with the select and grammar schools of 
his native town. For several } r ears he pursued his studies at the 
Connecticut Literary Institute at Suffield. 

He was regularly licensed by the Baptist church of Willimantic, 
Conn., and ordained to the Grospel ministry in East Windsor, in 1839. 
From this period, for about twenty-three years, he pursued a 
ministerial work in different parts of Connecticut with remarkable 
success. He was first settled as the pastor of the Baptist church at 
Wethersfield, where he labored successfully two full years. Afterwards 
he was settled five years over the Baptist church at Tariffville. Large 
additions were made to the congregation by conversion and baptism. 
He next removed to the pastoral care of the First Baptist Church in 
Bridgeport, where he remained about nine years. Having received a 
unanimous call to the First Baptist Church of New London, he ac- 
cepted it. He labored about eight years in this field, during which 

471 



REV. WILLIAM BEID. 

time large numbers were added by letter and baptism. From New 
London be removed to tbe pastorate of tbe First Baptist Churcb of 
Greenpoint, in tbe Eastern district of Brooklyn. Here he labored 
with great success for five years and a half. Many persons were con- 
verted and added to the church, and its means and influence were 
greatly increased. He next received and accepted a call to tbe 
McDougal street Baptist Church, New York, where he ministered 
with his usual success. 

This church originated in a colony from the First Baptist Church, 
then in Gold street, which went out in 1809, and a colony from the 
Fayette street Baptist Church, now Oliver street Church, which went 
out in 1813. It has thus been in existence for the period of sixty- 
four years. The first colony was for a while designated as the North 
Baptist Church, and the second as the Berean Baptist Church. Their 
meetings were first held in a brewery in Desbrosses street In 1810 
steps were taken to build a church edifice in Vandam. street, which 
was completed, but finally sold for debt. Then they met in C. P. 
Wyckoff 's school-house in Dominick street Soon after the formation 
of the North Berean Church, they purchased of the trustees of the 
Mulberry street Church the original house in Yandam street, which, 
however, was still followed by misfortune, and was burned in 1831. 
Afterward lots were bought, and the present church edifice in 
McDougal street was erected. The name of North Berean was 
changed to McDougal street Baptist Church. The church has had 
nine pastors. One of these was the Bev. Duncan Dunbar, who 
served as pastor three different times, in all twenty years. Members 
of this church were the principal persons in the organization of the 
Berean Baptist Church, and of the Mariners' Church. A regular 
colony from the church originated the Sixteenth street Church. 

Mr. Reid is of the medium height, and compactly built. He has 
a great deal of physical activity and an indomitable energy. His 
bead is round, with regular features, and a most cheerful, benevolent 
expression of countenance. He is a man of clear and quick intel- 
lectual perceptions, of an ardent abounding faith, and great practical 
judgment in the application of his mental and physical resources for 
whatever work he has to do. In the churches with which he has 
been connected, which he has taken in a condition of spiritual and 
financial prostration, it has been not only his zeal in strictly spiritual 
labors, but his judgment and ability in business matters, which have 
raised them to the highest prosperity in both particulars. 

472 



EEV. WILLIAM REID. 

His sermons are well written expositions of the scriptures and of 
Christian and moral duty, and his delivery is earnest and eloquent. 
He has been a close, painstaking student, and he is clear and forcible 
in all his explanations. On all the doctrinal points, he is noted in 
+he denomination as one of its most logical and effective writers and 
speakers. His mode of reasoning is always simple, and explained 
by many familiar illustrations, while at the same time it is clear in 
meaning, concise in expression, and spoken with the warmth and in- 
spiration of a kindly and devout heart. His voice is round and full, 
and is pleasantly modulated throughout. You cannot doubt either 
his sincerity or his deep, absorbing piety. He shows this in language, 
manners, and in every act of his daily life. He goes among his 
fellow-men with a beaming face, a cheerful heart, a patient spirit, and 
with humility and self-sacrifice in all his proceedings. He is earnest 
and untiring, and few men are more capable of securing that pop- 
ularity and influence which go so far with a public man in making 
his undertakings successful. 

473 



KEY. HENRY BASCOM BIDGAWAY, D. D., 

PASTOR OF ST. JAMES' METHODIST CHURCH, 
(H^REEM,) NEW YORK. 




>EY. DR. HENRY BASCOM RIDGAWAY was born in 
Talbot County, Maryland, September 7th, 1830. He 
went through a course of studies at the Public High 
School in Baltimore, under the Presidency of 1ST. C. 
Banks, LL. D. In the summer of 1849 he was graduated at 
Dickinson College, Carlisle, Penn., having, prior to this time, re- 
ceived a license to preach as a local minister of the Methodist church. 
His first sermon was preached before his eighteenth year, at a camp 
meeting on the eastern shore of Maryland. After graduating he 
taught school for some months, and commenced his regular ministry 
in the fall of 1849, in the Summerfield circuit, Baltimore county. He 
was received on trial in the itinerancy, in the Baltimore Conference, 
at its session at Winchester, Ya., in 1850, and appointed to the Win- 
chester circuit. The next spring he was transferred to the Loudoun 
circuit, where he preached, in connection with Rev. AVm. Hirst, for 
two years. In 1853 he was petitioned for by the Summerfield circuit, 
and also asked for in Baltimore ; and, from considerations of ill-health, 
took the country circuit. He was married in February of the same 
year to the daughter of the late Professor Caldwell, of Dickinson 
College. In the spring of 1854 he was appointed to the charge of 
the North Baltimore circuit, and in the following spring became 
second preacher of the North Baltimore station, which includes five 
churches, with three ministers. His next position was at the High 
street station, consisting of one church. Two years later, at the de- 
sire of the people of the Chestnut street church, Portland, he was 
transferred to the Maine Conference, and appointed to their newly 
completed church. His removal was much against the wishes of his 
Baltimore friends. Toward the close of his term at the Chestnut 
street church he was invited to become the pastor of St. Paul's 
Church, New York, and in the spring of 1861 was transferred. 

474 





^€ 




REV. HENRY BASCOM RIDGAWAY, D. D. 

For some twelve years Mr. Ridgaway has officiated in the leading 
Methodist churches of New York, including St. Paul's, Washington 
Square, and St. James', Harlem. At St. Paul's he has received several 
appointments. He received his degree of D. D. from Dickinson 
College in 1868. 

Mr. Ridgaway is a contributor to the editorial columns of The 
Methodist, the organ of his denomination in New York. Most of 
his sermons are either delivered from brief notes or memory. There 
is a prejudice among the Methodists against written sermons, and 
their preachers seldom write out their discourses. As an instance of 
Mr. Ridgaway's powers of memory, we may meution that we heard 
him preach an exceedingly able sermon, entirely systematic in its 
arrangement and very elaborate in its argument; and he subsequently 
informed us that he only determined to preach this sermon during 
the singing of the second hymn, and that it was last delivered some 
two years before. A discourse by Mr. Ridgaway was published in a 
collection of sermons by ministers of different denominations, issued 
under the auspices of the Young Men's Christian Society of Wash- 
ington city, and entitled " The Union Pulpit. " 

Mr. Ridgaway is something below the average height, and has 
sharp features. Without any of the highly distinguishing marks 
of intellectual greatness, still you see every evidence that he is a re- 
flective man. This thoughtfulness pervades him at all times, and is 
noticeable in the most ordinary conversation, for not a word is spoken 
without due consideration. His manners are cordial, and you soon 
find yourself on very good terms with him. He is altogether quiet 
and undemonstrative in both demeanor and speech. 

Mr. Ridgaway opens his sermon in a subdued tone, and in rather 
a methodical way. As he passes on, however, his voice rises, and 
so earnest does he become, that he frequently steps away from the 
desk to the edge of the pulpit, and indulges in a strain of most elo- 
quent and animated reasoning. At these times, even when speaking 
extempore, he has a great command of select and vigorous language. 
Word follows word in such order, and the illustration of the argu- 
ment is so complete, that it seems that such a delivery can only be 
from a carefully prepared manuscript. He is not particularly im- 
aginative, but his argument takes the widest range of logic. He 
labors to convince, and shows a power of analysis and keenness of 
reasoning which are highly creditable to him both as a scholar and 
observer of men. 475 



REV. ISAAC RILEY, 

PASTOR OF THE THIRTY-FOURTH STREET 
REFORMED CHURCH, NEW YORK!. 




EV. ISAAC EILE Y was born in the city of New York, 
February 2d, 1835, but was taken to Montrose, Penn., 
at an early age, where he was brought rip. He is the 
son of the Eev. H. A. Riley, who many years since was 
pastor of one of the Presbyterian churches of New York, and 
subsequently was settled at Montrose and other places. His 
early studies were at Montrose. In 1858 he was graduated at Yale 
College, and in 1861 at the Union Theological Seminary, New York 
city. He was first settled as the pastor of the Forest Presbyterian 
Church, at Middletown, Newcastle county, Delaware, where he was 
ordained and installed in March, 1862. He remained in this pastor- 
ship over two years, until October, 1864, when he went immediately 
to the First Presbyterian Church, at Pottsville, Penn., where he la- 
bored three years, until October, 1867. At the latter date he be- 
came colleague pastor with the Rev. Dr. Joel Parker, at the Park 
Presbyterian Church, Newark, N. J. In September, 1868 he accepted 
a call to his present position, the Thirty-fourth street Reformed 
Church, New York, as the successor of the Rev. Dr. Peter Stryker. 
He was installed on the last Sunday of September, 1868. 

The Thirty-fourth street Reformed Church has an interesting his- 
tory. The congregation grew out of a missionary enterprise of the 
Reformed Dutch denomination, organized January 9th, 1822. It 
was the desire of the society to establish preaching near the corner 
of Canal street and Broadway, " a part of the city then growing 
rapidly," but no suitable room could be procured, and the locality 
was changed to the junction of Howard and Elm streets, where a 
room was obtained. Rev. Robert McLean was the first missionary. 
The enterprise prospered, and arrangements were made to build a 
church edifice on a site corner of Broome and Greene streets. The 

corner-stone was laid in June, 1823. In the month of October fol- 

476 



REV. ISAAC EILEY. 

lowing, services were commenced in trie basement. On February 8th, 
1824, the church was dedicated, and in a few years had one of the 
largest and most influential congregations in the city. The whole 
cost of the lots and building was sixteen thousand dollars. A debt 
of seven thousand dollars was paid off in three or four years. The 
congregation was formally organized in December, 1823, and Mr. 
McLean was called as the first pastor in the following year Kev. 
Dr. Jacob Brodhead was the pastor from 1826 to 1837 ; Rev. Dr. 
Samuel A. Van Vranken from 1837 to 1841 ; Rev. Dr. George 
Fisher from 1841 to 1854 ; Rev. Henry V. Voorhees from May, 1854, 
to December, 1855, who resigned by reason of ill-health ; Rev. Dr. 
Peter Stryker from April, 1855, to 1868, a period of thirteen years. 

In 1859 the church in Broome street had accumulated a debt of 
seventeen thousand dollars, and the congregation was greatly re- 
duced in numbers by the removal up-town of its members. In May, 
1859, a union was effected with the Livingston Reformed Dutch 
Church, worshiping in a hall on the corner of Thirty-third street and 
Eighth avenue, where services were continued. Meanwhile, the 
down-town property was sold, and eligible building lots purchased 
in Thirty-fourth street The last service in the old church took 
place on April 15th, 1860, when Dr. Stryker preached an appropri- 
ate historica 1 discourse. In a period of between thirty-six and thirty- 
seven years, eighty marriages were solemnized, five hundred and 
fifty-seven infants baptized, and one thousand two hundred and four 
members admitted. The edifice was one of the most beautiful of the 
old-fashioned brick buildings, and many of the old residents will re- 
member the throngs of well-to-do people who flocked to its altar, 
probably not one of whom now resides in that portion of the city. 

A fine church building was erected on the site in Thirty-fourth 
street, and dedicated March 3d, 1861. The cost was some sixty- 
thousand dollars. A debt of thirty-five thousand which remained 
was liquidated in three or four years. The church was built during 
the depression occasioned by the breaking out of the war with the 
South, and the heavy debt seriously threatened the prosperity of the 
congregation, but its increase was such that it was soon able to re- 
move all embarrassment. There are at this time about six hundred 
members, and three hundred and fifty children in the Sunday 
School. 

Mr. Riley is of the medium height and well-proportioned. His 

head is of the average size, with delicate, regular features. His com- 

477 



REV. ISAAC RILEY. 

plexion is pale, and he has light brown hair and "whiskers. He is 
plain and quiet, while altogether affable in his manners. A man of 
perseverance and force, he is so passive and amiable in ordinary in- 
tercourse that these only appear when he has some labor to perform. 
He makes neither noise nor show, and hence inferior men in the 
same circles obtain more reputation and credit He has never sought 
fame, and never done other than rejoice at the success of his cotem- 
poraries. But, on the other hand, he has devoted himself with great 
diligence to a wide and thorough study for his profession, and an en- 
lightened and conscientious discharge of duty in all positions. In a 
word, he is one of those who show great strength of mind and nerve 
in duty and labor, and the utmost amiability and purity of character 
in all social and private relations. 

Mr. Eiley is a young man in the ministry ; but, from what we 
have seen of him in public and private, we think that he will prove 
himself one of the bulwarks of the church. He preaches no fancies, 
but moral truths. Eeligion and preaching to him are serious things. 
They are not matters to be used for individual pride or ambition, but 
for the sole purpose of saving the lost He shows these convictions 
in the performance of all his professional duties, and in his private 
life. In the pulpit he is modest and serious. He prays with his 
whole soul — not a vain, pompous prayer, but the. prayer of faith and 
hope. In his sermons he is equally serious, quite argumentative, 
and at times pathetic. You see that he feels all that he says, and 
that he has but one purpose. This is not to have people say '• What 
a fine sermon," " What a scholar and orator •" but he wants these 
old men and women to rejoice in hearing the same comforting truths 
they heard from a Brodhead, a Fisher, and a Stryker, and he wants 
to touch impatient hearts with saving grace. He is warm and earn- 
est in his manners ; he speaks in those clear tones which give the 
most force and expression to language, and his every thought and 
utterance is pure and holy. Proud only of the ministry of Christ, 
strong only in the power of the gospel, he looks to the hereafter for 
the only reward to which he aspires. 

478 



RET. CHARLES S. ROBINSON, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE MEMOltXAJL. PRESBYTERIAN 
CHUK.CH, NEW YORK. 




EY. DE. CHARLES S. ROBINSON was born at Benning- 
ton, Vermont, March 31st, 1829. He was graduated at 
Williams College, Massachusetts, in 1849, and studied 
■ ' theology privately in New York city, and then passed a 
^p year and a half at Princeton Seminary. He was or ained a 
««Q minister of the Presbyterian Church by the Presbyteiy of Troy, 
June 14th, 1855, and at the same time installed pastor of the Park 
Presbyterian Church of that place. At the termination of about five 
vears and a half he accepted a call to the First New School Presby- 
terian Church, Brooklyn, formerly under the pastoral charge of the 
celebrated Rev. Dr. Samuel H. Cox, commencing his new labors 
March 1st, 1860. He continued with this large and influential con- 
gregation for several years. The broken health of his wife obliged 
a foreign voyage, when he was appointed pastor of the American 
Chapel in Paris, where he remained three years. He was then called 
to the Memorial Presbyterian Church, New York, formerly called the 
Eleventh Presbyterian Church. 

This Church was organized by the Third Presbytery of New 
York, May 13th, 1839, and consisted of eighty-nine members, who 
had been dismissed from the Seventh Presbyterian Church and the 
Manhattan Island Presbyterian Church for that purpose. In July, 
1839, Rev. Mason Noble entered upon his duties as the first pastor. 
For three years their place of worship was an edifice in Fourth street, 
formerly occupied by the Manhattan Island Presbyterian Church. A 
new church was erected on the corner of Fourth street and Avenue C, 
which was dedicated in October, 1842. On January 8th, 1850, 
thirty-one members were dismissed to form the Union Congregational 
Church. In the spring of 1850, Mr. Noble was released from his 
pastoral relations to the church, having accepted a call to a church in 
Baltimore. During his ministry of about eleven years three hundred 

479 



REV. CHARLES S. ROBINSON, D. D. 

and eighty-four persons united with the church, of which one hun- 
dred and sixty were received on profession of their faith. Rev. J. 
Parsons Hovey commenced his labors as pastor in July, 1850. After 
an earnest ministry of thirteen years, he was called to his reward 
December 16th, 1863. In the winter of 1863 the church building 
was sold, and the church and society removed to a house of worship 
on Fifty-fifth street, between Third and Lexington Avenues. This 
edifice has been sold, and what is known as the Memorial Presbyterian 
Church was erected for the congregation, on the corner of Madison 
Avenue and Fifty-third street. 

About one third of a century has elapsed since the Old School 
and the New School opposition parties in the Presbyterian Church 
of these United States separated after a long controversy and became 
distinct communities. On both sides there were able and sincere 
men who deeply regretted the division, but saw no way to avoid it 
For years earnest efforts were made to bring about a reunion of the 
two branches. In the year 1869 the Old and New School General 
Assemblies met almost within speaking distance in New York — one 
in the Brick Church on Murray Hill, the other at Park avenue Pres- 
byterian church. The movement toward union happily culminated 
the following year at Philadelphia. The bodies formerly one house- 
hold, but long sundered by questions of doctrine and polity, became 
one again after a generation of separate and often rival action, to the 
great joy of the Presbyterians of the country. In commemoration 
of this notable event the congregation of Rev. Dr. Robinson's church 
resolved to erect a Memorial Temple, in which to worship in the 
future. The plan was carried out by the erection of one of the most 
magnificent church edifices of the city, costing one hundred and sixty 
thousand dollars, which was dedicated on Sunday, January 26th, 1872. 

The Memorial church is a stone structure 125 feet front by 120 
feet deep. It is built in the round Gothic style. The Church covers 
80 feet front; the remaining 45 are occupied by a lecture-room, 
connected with the church by a common entrance. At the corner of 
Madison avenue rises the tower to the height of 90 feet, and the spire, 
both constructed of stone. The distance from the sidewalk to the 
iron finial to surmount the latter will be 220 feet. The spire is 
peculiar, and differs in most respects from all others in the city. On 
the south of the main building is a smaller tower, also entirely of 
stone, eighty-five feet in height. 

Dr Robinson has published various sermons, and is the compiler 

480 



REV. CHARLES S. ROBINSON, D. D. 

of a book of hymns used in the Presbyterian and Congregational 
churches, entitled "Songs of the Church; or, Hymns and Tunes for 
Sacred Worship." He received his degree of D. D. from Hamilton 
College. 

Dr. Robinson is slightly under the medium height, with an erect, 
graceful figure. His head and features are small, but the latter are 
well defined, and of a classical mold. He is one of those men in 
which the physical development borders on the delicacy of effeminacy, 
and the mental predominates in the expression, in refined finish of 
feature, and in the cultivation of the general appearance and manners. 
He looks the gentleman, the man of refinement and culture, and the 
man of exalted sentiments and correct practices, and his looks in no 
case belie him. In his disposition he is of a cheerful temperament, 
tending very frequently to broad humor. He is disposed, in his 
domestic and social intercourse, to impart sprightliness and mirthful- 
ness to every occasion when it may be proper, and does this by an 
inexhaustible fund of happy, genial, merry thoughts and sayings. 
He has a way of talking in the semi-humorous, ironical style which not 
only imparts much amusement, but shows the quickness with which 
he can give a cheerful shading to every picture. He is by no means 
a heedless, frivolous person, for all this geniality is marked by culture, 
and an entire propriety as to seasons, places, and persons. 

Dr. Eobinson certainly illustrates the more attractive phase of 
Christian character. The human heart, no matter how deeply bowed 
in penitence, is more readily influenced by the counsellor who warms 
it with touches most akin to nature itself. The religionist may take 
it warm, sensitive, and quivering to the touch, and he may think this 
very condition most suitable for his purpose of molding it to his 
despotic creed and unyielding discipline. And he may readily ac- 
complish all that he seeks. But when his work is accomplished, the 
subject of his experiment has no more a human heart than the 
Chinese woman has perfect feet after they have been contracted, 
bruised, and formed in an iron shoe. A heart without a joyous ap- 
preciation of the life given of Cod, and willing and capable of yield- 
ing to its cheerful influences, is a heart dead to natural impulses, a 
mere skeleton of its natural proportions, and a tenant-house of morbid 
sentimentality instead of inspiring joys. The glooms of religion, 
and the prudishness of some of its ministers, to all that is genial, 
mirthful, and worldly, have'produced just this wreck of many a noble 
heart, and saddened many a glorious nature. In view of this lament- 

481 



REV. OHARLES -S . ROBINSON, D. D. 

able fact, it is the more satisfactory to meet a person like Dr. Eobinson, 
who bears a sunny face, and is not averse to showing nature in its 
truly genial characteristics. Those who come in contact with him 
are none the less impressed with all that Lis religious instruction can 
teach, while they are made alive to the beauty of the gladsome heart 

Dr. Eobinson is an eloquent, forcible preacher. His sermons are 
argumentative, and he will make no sacrifice whatever to declamation, 
but his mode of handling his subject is so original and scholarly, and 
so graphic and chaste is his language, that he is very successful in 
arresting the undivided attention of an audience. He becomes greatly 
absorbed in his theme, and evidently labors for its full and clear 
understanding by every hearer. There is a total want of oratorical 
effort, but not of oratorical effect. He has a natural, unrestrained, un- 
tutored delivery ; he speaks in an easy, free, and conversational 
manner, and still there are modulations, pauses, and bursts of 
eloquence which impart universal power to preaching of his particular 
kind. In judging him the critic would say that he was lacking in 
r:uch that completes the orator, and at the same time it must be ad- 
mitted that he has most effective powers in r. aching the heart and in- 
telligence. When he has fully elaborated his subject he seems con- 
tent All his display, if such it may be called, is in the chasteness 
and grace of his expressions, and he seldom tarries for those passages 
of fine writing which lead to brilliant speaking. Scholarly without 
being pedantic, plain without being common-place, argumentative 
without being tedious, he presents the most valuable combination of 
characteristics which can exist in the man seeking the salvation of 
souls rather than personal triumphs. These latter, however, though 
never sought, are constant, and from the circumstance of being un- 
sought, adorn with that pure luster which always belongs to those 
who are humble of great talent. 

Warm-hearted and genial as the man, versatile and thorough in 
his accomplishments as the scholar, successful and of growing fame 
as the minister, Dr. Eobinson holds a well-deserved place as one of 
the most appreciable and talented men of the day. The experienced 
shepherd of a numerous and precious flock, he is ever alert in works 
of faithfulness and faith, and ever binding more closely the bonds 
of personal friendships and public approbation. 

482 



REV. J. EDSOi\ ROCKWELL, D. D., 

LATE PASTOR OF THE CENTRAL PRE8- 
BYTERIAN CHURCH , BROOKLYN. 




EV. J. EDSON EOCKWELL, D. D., was born at Salisbury, 
Vt., May 4th, 1816. He "humorously says ttiat he was 
in Vermont just long enough to be born there, Hudson, in 
the state of New York, having been the home of his early 
life. He was graduated at Amherst College in 18S7, and at the 
New York Theological Seminary in 1841. In October of the same 
year he was ordained and installed as pastor of the Presbyterian 
church at Valatia, New York, in connection with the New School 
Presbytery of Columbia. He remained with this charge until called 
to the Hanover street New School Presbyterian Church, Wilmington, 
Delaware, where he commenced his duties March 21st, 1847. Nearly 
five years later, on the 13th of February, 1851, be was installed 
pastor of the Central Old School Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, 
then located in Willoughby street. The congregation, after many 
trials, in which they were continually called upon to appreciate the 
cheerful hope and untiring energy of their pastor, were enabled to 
build a tasteful and spacious edifice in Schermerhorn street, seating 
one thousand persons, which was dedicated December 10th, 1854. 
The cost of the whole property was about thirty-four thousand dollars. 
When Dr. Kockwell entered upon his duties, the congregation num- 
bered only one hundred and twenty members, while thirteen years 
later the number was four hundred and sixty, and during the same 
time nearly six hundred had joined, three hundred of whom were 
admitted on profession of faith. His degree of D. D. was received 
from Jefferson College, in 1859. After eighteen years of ministerial 
labor, half of which had been devoted- to the Central congregation, 
impaired health induced him to obtain leave of absence, and on the 
7th of May, 1859, in company with his wife and a mutual friend, he 
took his departure for Europe, where he passed five months in travel. 
He spent some time in ministering to the soldiers in the field, in the 

483 



REV. J. EPSON ROCKWELL, D. D. 

service of the Christian Commission. Several years since Dr. Rock- 
well became pastor of the Edgewater Presbyterian Church, Staten 
Island, K Y., where he has passed a happy and useful pastorate. 

Dr. Rockwell is a constant contributor to the religious and secular 
press. He has published several works — viz : " Sketches of the Pres- 
byterian Church;" " Young Christian "Warned;" "The Sheet 
Anchor," a little book for sailors ; " The Visitor's Questions," a Sun- 
day-school book; "Scenes and Impressions Abroad;" "Seed 
Thoughts;" and "The Diamond in the Cage." The last named is 
the fruit of thirty years of labor among Sunday School children. 
During a period of eight years the " Sunday School Visitor," a publi- 
cation of the Presbyterian Board, was edited by Dr. Rockwell. He 
has also published a variety of occasional sermons and addresses, 
among which may be mentioned " A Plea for the Eldership ;" " The 
Day at Hand," an address; "Christ Walking on the Waters ;" "A 
Plea for the Sailor." 

We make the following extracts from the address entitled "The 
Day at Hand," delivered before the Synod of New York, by its ap- 
pointment, in the Scotch Church. New York, October 23d, 1862 : 

"Amid much that is dark, and surrounded by scenes of peril and trial, we may 
yet look out upon the great fields of Christian labor, and feel that the signs of the 
times are giving promise of good. In all the history of the past, the church has never 
had so much to encourage her. God's people have never seen so much to strengthen 
their faith, and to call forth their full and united efforts for the extension of the 
Kingdom of Christ. The Bible is now translated into every tongue, and is waiting 
to be sent to every creature, with all its precious messages of mercy. More than 
forty-eight millions of copies of the Holy Scriptures have been published during the 
present century, which are being circulated, not alone by all the varied agencies in 
Christian lands, but by more than sixteen hundred missionaries, and more than six- 
teen thousand native preachers and teachers, who have been converted to God, and 
educated for his service, from the midst of heathen degradation. Divine Providence 
lias, in the most wonderful — and often in the most unlooked-for manner — removed out 
of the way obstacles which seemed to bs insurmountable in the progress of Christian 
missions, so that there is now free access to eveiy part of the heathen world. The 
silence of the remotest sea is now broken by the plash of the steamer, the herald of 
civilization, and the agent of Christian nations, in bearing their influence to every 
land and nation. Commerce and the intrepid zeal of science have broken in upon 
African wilds and Asiatic solitudes, and opened to the world vast regions, peopled 
with teeming millions, which have been hitherto unvisited and unknown. The walls 
of China are broken down ; Japan is opening to the Gospel; Africa is already feeling 
the influence of commerce in elevating her people, and is opening vast mines ot 
wealth hitherto unknown, which will attract to her shores not the ships of the slave- 
trader, but merchant fleets engaged in honorable and civilized traffic, under whose 
influence that mighty continent may regain her ancient prestige, when Carthage was 

484 



REV. J. EDSON ROCKWELL, D. D. 

the empire of commerce, and Egypt the mother of science. Mahomedan prejudices 
against Christian nations are fast going away before the influence of national inter- 
communion, and the fierce fanaticism with which the Turkish and Persian and 
Moorish nations have met the advances of Christian kindness and courtesy is yield- 
ing before the advance of light and truth, while amid the millions of the Papal 
world there is going on a wondrous change, which is rapidly opening their minds to 
the blessings of civil and religious liberty." 

The following extract, descriptive of the Bay of Naples, from 
"Scenes and Impressions Abroad," will show how happy the author 
has been in delineating his observations of travel : 

"The beautiful indentations of the shore which forms the Bay of Naples com- 
merces on the north, at the Cape of Miseno, and, sweeping round in a most graceful 
curve towards the east and south, terminates at the Capo Delia Campanella, making 
a circuit of thirty-five miles. 

" As our ship rounds the northern headland, there come rapidly into view beauti- 
ful and bold shores, covered with Italian villas, palaces, gardens, and convents, until 
the whole of this magnificent bay bursts upon the view, and presents a scene which 
has, perhaps no equal, and which no pen can describe. Almost in the centre of this 
glorious picture, Vesuvius, its head wreathed by the dark clouds of smoke which 
ceaselessly roll up from its crater, rises majestically from a lovely valley. As the eye 
sweeps round the beautiful coast, it takes in a series of villages and hamlets, peeping 
out from groves of orange, citron, and olive trees, while behind them the distant 
hills rise in graceful outlines, and mountains, softened by distance and mellowed by 
the indescribable glow of an Italian atmosphere, shut in the lovely scene. 

"Turning from this picture, to which words do no justice, we catch our first view 
of the city of Naples, which lies upon a smaller indentation of the bay. Dashing 
by lines of forts and castles, through fleets of small vessels, with the peculiar 
Oriental model of the Mediterranean, which are lying quietly at anchor, just as the 
morning bugle is arousing the soldiers of the castles, and the guns of the ships of 
war are thundering over the waters, we come to anchor under the range of one of the 
batteries, and opposite the custom-house of Naples. During the long hours we 
spend in waiting for the return of our passports, which have been sent on shore to 
the police, we amuse ourselves by watching the small boats which surround the ship, 
filled with fruit or other edibles, or laden with musicians who have all the airs of 
opera singers, and who have come out to pick up a few pence for their performances. 
At last the officers of the government are satisfied, and we are permitted to debark. 
Small boats now swarm about the vessel like leeches, and the boatmen tender their 
services most pertinaciously." 

Dr. Rockwell is about the medium height, and equally propor- 
tioned. He has an active step, and his whole manner bespeaks him 
to be a person of quick impulses, and earnest, practical energy. His 
severe labors of the ministry and occasonal ill-health have given him 
the look of his full age. Intercourse with him, however, shows his 
spirits to have the buoyancy and elasticity of youth, and bis resolution 
is as rigid as his hopefulness is inspiring. His eyes are clear, calm* 
and particularly expressive of kind and Christian sympathies, to which 

485 



REV. J. EDSON ROCKWELL, D. D. 

is added a flitting smile of surpassing gentleness. The brow is broad, 
bigh, and full, and there is a contraction between the eyes, outward 
evidences of the habit of severe and constant thought. All the 
features are prominent, while uniform, and the entire face is not less 
striking from physical than intellectual attractiveness. 

Dr. Rockwell is a man of fine abilities, and ranks with the most 
distinguished men of his denomination. His mind is largely stored 
with the gains of a comprehensive and unremitting student-life, be- 
sides which he is a most intelligent and critical observer of daily 
life. There is nothing speculative about him, nothing which has not 
as well a practical, common-sense basis, as one laid in truth, morality 
and religion. Inflexible in principle, pure and exalted in design, just 
and liberal in his judgment, he deceives no man with sophistries any 
more than personally he heeds the temptations of eviL Frank and 
truthful in his nature, he brings everything in culture and in life to 
the test of the honest heart, and no other standard. Nobly conspicuous 
with this trait, and beloved for it, he proclaims his doctrines of faith, 
and leads trustiug souls to redemption. 

His style of preaching is plain in matter and manner, though 
always marked by animation and a degree of eloquence. He uses 
well-worded, expressive sentences, often made most touchingly tender 
by pathos and pastoral love. He gesticulates a great deal, but with 
excellent taste and effect. The Presbyterian ministry has men more 
showy in declamation, and enjoying a larger share of public attention 
than Dr. Rockwell, but the whole Christian ministry cannot produce 
one more upright and faithful. Grifted with talents and adorned with 
virtues, he is found to be only proud of his place among those who 
meekly bear the cross. 



REY. EBENEZER P. ROGERS, D. D., 

PA8TOR OF THE SOUTH REFORMED CHURCH, 

NEW YORK. 




|EV. DR EBENEZER P. ROGERS is a native of the 
City of New York, and over fifty years of age. He was 
called to the South Reformed Church, New York, from a 
Presbyterian church in Albany about twelve years since. 
The South Church was originally located in Exchange 
^§2 Place, than called Garden street, in the extreme Southern portion 
of the city, and some two miles and a half from the present location. 
The Rev. Dr. Matthews was the first pastor, having as his colleague 
the Rev. Dr. Hutton. A considerable representation of the wealth 
and influence of the day was to be found in the congregation. The 
great fire of 1835 swept away the church edifice, and the congregation 
became greatly agitated, and finally divided on the question of build- 
ing on a site up-town. At length an arrangement was made, by 
which the property was divided, and a portion of the congregation, 
bearing the old name, built a church on the corner of Murray and 
Church streets, and forty-nine other members, with the two pastors, 
organized a new congregation in the Chapel of the University, and 
subsequently erected a very fine edifice on Washington Square, where 
Dr. Hutton still officiates. After some years the Murray Street con- 
gregation sold their building, and erected a new church on the corner 
of Fifth avenue and Twenty-first street, nearly a mile beyond the site 
of their former co-members, on Washington Square, which had been 
considered too far up-town. Such, in fact, in a few years had been 
the up-town movement of the people that up-town churches had be- 
come again down-town churches. The edifice of the South Church 
is a tasteful and spacious brick structure, and occupies one of the 
most accessible, and at the same time select localities for a building 
of the kind in New York. The Rev. Dr. Macauley, the younger, 
was the pastor for a number of years, and on his retirement, Professor 

437 



REV. EBENEZEE P. ROGERS, D. D. 

Hitchcock officiated for some time, until Dr. Eogers was called. The 
congregation has largely increased under Dr. Rogers' ministration, 
and now ranks with the most numerous of the city. A few years 
since Dr. Eogers made an extended tour in Europe. He is one of 
the six members of the Publishing Committee of the American Tract 
Society. 

He is about the medium height, well-proportioned, erect, and 
altogether of an imposing figure. His head is rosnd and intellectual, 
and his face is amiable and cheerful in its expressions. He is a man 
of great courtesy of manners, but of an ever-present and sometimes 
formal dignity. His clerical and learned character appears to you at 
once, and is thoroughly supported under all circumstances. Some 
men are exactly suited by nature for their calling, and Dr. Eogers is 
one of these. The gravity of manners, the solemnity of speech, and 
the true deportment of the clergyman, are fully exhibited by him. 
The height and breadth, the model and portrait of the clerical character 
are perfectly fitted in every resj)ect, and he stands not only worthy 
of all credit in his own person, but an example to his brethren. He 
seems and acts the divine scholar and teacher with an ease which is 
natural to him, and in a manner which gives force and impressiveness 
to his teachings and example. 

Dr. Eogers preaches a plainly worded and practical sermon. He 
evidently feels that preaching imposed upon him one self-evident 
duty, and that is to call sinners to repentance. Should his sermons 
be examined for correctness and beauty of the language, as to the 
force and clearness of the arguments, — and generally as an earnest, 
pra} T erful appeal of the Christian teacher, they will be found entitled 
to all praise. They meet the highest requirements of preaching, and 
are, undoubtedly, conducive to great good. 

Dr. Eogers has much animation in the pulpit, both in voice and 
gesture. He becomes much absorbed in his theme, and he speaks 
with the full fervor of his voice and devout convictions. Many of 
his gestures are particularly vehement, such as uplifting his hands 
toward heaven, etc. His voice has full compass, but is somewhat 
wanting in smoothness and mellowness. He is an active man in his 
church, and exerts a large influence in all the religious organizations 
with which he is connected. He shows great judgment in all his 
efforts, and personally takes no heed of the atmost degree of pains- 
taking toiL 4.88 



MY. STEAL! B. JtOSSITER, 

PASTOK OE THE NORTH PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




,EV. STEALY B. EOSSITEE was born at Berne, Albany 
County, New York, May 22d, 1842. He was graduated 
at Union College, Schenectady, in 1865, and at the 
Union Theological Seminary, New York, in 1869. His 
ordination to the ministry was in connection with the 
Albany Presbytery, but he accepted a call to the Congrega- 
tional church at Elizabeth, New Jersey. He remained in this 
pastorship until June 16th, 1869, when he came to the North 
Presbyterian Church of New York, over which he was installed Sep- 
tember 21st, 1873. 

A church of eight males and eight females was organised June 
27th, 1847, by Bev. Thomas H. Skinner, D. D., assisted by Rev. 
¥m. Adams, D. D., and the Rev. W. Roosevelt. It received the 
name of " The North Presbyterian Church in the city of New 
York." The congregation became a religious incorporation in due 
form September 13th, 1847. Preaching had been for some time 
held in the chapel of the Institution for the Blind, then in one of the 
rural districts of the city. A free lease of four full lots of ground on 
the south side of Thirty-second street, between the Eighth and Ninth 
avenues, was obtained from Mr. James Boorman, for seven years 
from May 1st, 1848, which was subsequently extended to nine 
years. A temporary house of worship was completed in April fol- 
lowing, at a cost of $3,200. It was a frame building, about forty by 
sixty feet, with a short central tower in front. It contained seventy- 
five pews, and had a front gallery. The house was built in the 
open field, on a hill-side, known formerly as " Strawberry Hill." The 
first public worship took place April 13th, 1849. The congregation 
prospered, and in 1856 measures were taken to erect a more substan- 
tial and commodious house of worship. By the noble munificence 

489 



EEV. STEALY B. ROSSITER. 

of Mr. James Boorman, the congregation was, on the 1st of May fol- 
lowing, put into free and full possession of four full lots of ground, 
ninety-eight feet nine inches by one hundred feet, on the northeast 
corner of Ninth avenue and Thirty-first street The corner-stone 
was laid June 19th, 1856, and the lecture-room was opened for reli- 
gious services November 16th of the same year. The new church 
was completed and opened for public worship March 29th, 1857, and 
cost, with the organ and other furniture, $45,759 28. It is built of 
stone, ninety-one by sixty-six feet, with a tower projection of four 
feet, and a central spire rising to the height of one hundred and 
eighty-two feet. The interior is finished in fresco. It has one hun- 
dred and fifty-two pews on the main floor, and sixty on the side- 
galleries, which will accommodate one thousand adult persons. The 
organ gallery is in front, and disconnected from the others. The 
house is lighted at night from the ceiling. The old church was sold 
to the Northwest Presbyterian church for $600, and soon after re- 
moved to Fiftieth street, near Broadway. 

Rev. Washington Boosevelt was the first pastor of the North 
Church, remaining from 1849 to 1856, when he was succeeded by 
Bev. Dr. Edwin F. Hatfield, who remained a number of years. The 
Bev. Thomas Street was next called, and served a very efficient pas- 
torship, until compelled by impaired health to resign in May, 1873. 
Mr. Bossiter found the church still strong in membership, and its 
usefulness promises to continue under his own ministry. 

Mr. Bossiter is rather over the medium height, sparely propor- 
tioned, and erect. He has fair hair and complexion. The face is 
small, but the upper portion of the head is well developed, and shows 
brain-power. His manners are frank and courteous. He is undoubt- 
edly, a man of a great deal of modesty and good judgment in regard to 
all his actions. As a preacher he excels in the fervor of feeling which 
marks the thoroughly religious mind and heart. He speaks fluently, 
while his agreeable voice and well-chosen gestures give force and 
effect to every word that he utters. But the most noticeable feature 
of his preaching is its earnest and affectionate appeal to the uncon- 
verted. As a man and a minister his sole ambition is to save souls. 
The glow of his eloquence and the logic of his arguments, all arise 
from this one impulse, and hence he preaches at once with sincerity 
and effectiveness. 

490 



REV. JAMES H. RYLANCE, D. D., 

RECTOR OE ST. MARK'S EFISCOJP^E CHURCH, 

NEW YORK. 




EV. DR JAMES H. RYLANCE was born in the city of 
Manchester, England, June 16th, 1826. He was gradu- 
ated at King's College, London, in 1858. He took holy 
orders as deacon in 1861, and priest in 1862, in the dio- 
cese of Westminster. He was first settled at St. Paul's 
Church, Southwark, London, and remained there about two 
years. At the solicitation of the late Bishop Mcllvaine, Dr. 
Rylance then came to the United States, and, haying transferred his 
ecclesiastical connection to the diocese of Ohio, became rector of St 
Paul's Church, Cleveland, where he labored for three years and 
eight months. He then went to St. James' Church, Chicago, re- 
maining the same length of time. At Easter, 1871, he entered upon 
his present rectorship of the ancient parish of St. Mark's, New York. 
He is an associate of King's College, haviwg the. title of A. K. C, 
and in 1867 received the degree of D. D. from the Western Eeserve 
University. He wrote and published in England " Preachers and 
Preaching; " a critique by a " Dear Hearer," and was a contributor 
to the Homilist, published in London. He has also published vari- 
ous sermons ; more recently he has delivered before his congregation 
several series of very able lectures on religious topics. 

" The Protestant Episcopal Church of St. Mark in the Bowery, 
in the city of New York," its original and legal title, has an inter- 
esting history. The ground is a part of the bouwery, or farm, owned 
by Governor Peter Stuy vesant, the last of the Dutch rulers of New 
York, which covered a greater portion of the present Eleventh and 
Seventeenth wards, and a section of the Sixteenth. He was a Chris- 
tian man, and a member and ruling elder of the Reformed Dutch de- 
nomination, and on this site erected a chapel for the accommodation 
of his family, and the few residents in the neighborhood. Stuy 
vesant arrived in 1647, but it is not known when the chapel was 
built. The earliest date connected with its existence is 1660. When 
the Rev. Henry Selyus came out from Holland to be the Dutch 

191 



REV. JAMES H. RYLANCE, D.D. 

minister in New York, Governor Stuyvesant arranged for him to 
preach a portion of the time in the chapel ; and other clergymen who 
came over, did the same thing. A vault was built under the chapel, 
which is the Stuyvesant family burial-place to this day. After the 
decease of the Governor and his wife, the chapel was unoccupied, 
and fell into decay. In 1793, Mr. Peter Stuyvesant, the great-grand- 
son of the Governor, took means to induce the vestry of Trinity 
Church to organize a new parish, and build a church on this site. 
He offered to contribute eight hundred pounds, and a lot of land 
one hundred and fifty feet in width, and one hundred and ninety in 
length. On the 19th of July, 1795, the vestry of Trinity Church 
agreed to raise five thousand pounds for the proposed building. 
The corner-stone was laid on the 25th of April, 1795, and the 
church was consecrated by Bishop Samuel Provoost on the 9th of 
May, 1799. On the 27th of August, of the same year, the Trinity 
Vestry appointed trustees, to whom a conveyance was made of the 
church and land, in trust for the congregation, when organized. 
The first sale of pews took place October 2d, 1799, and the election 
of a vestry was on the 18th of the same month. The revenues of 
the church did not support it, and financial assistance was again 
asked of Trinity Church. This corporation, November 8th, 1800, 
deeded thirty lots of land in the city to St. Mark's Church, which 
produced twelve hundred and fifty dollars a year. Iu 1804, fifty- 
seven pews in St. Mark's brought a total yearly rental of only 
$562.50. and in 1828, sixty-eight pews rented for only $943. The 
number of communicants in 1804 was about twenty. A steeple to 
the church was built in 1826, and several important alterations and 
repairs took place from 1834 to 1836. In 1803 Mr. Peter Stuy- 
vesant gave lots on Eleventh street for a parsonage, and in 1804, 
ground for a cemetery. A record, bearing date of July 20th, 1804, 
shows that pew No. 9, was reserved for the use of Mr. Stuyvesant 
and his family and descendants forever free of charge for rent. On 
the outer eastern wall of the edifice is a tablet bearing the follow- 
ing inscription : " In this vault lies buried Peter Stuyvesant, late 
Captain-General and Commander in Chief of Amsterdam in New 
Netherlands, now called New York, and the Dutch West India 
Islands. Died in August, A. D. 1682, aged eighty years." 

On the 15th of February. 1800, the Rev. John Callahan was 
called to the rectorship, and accepted, but he died in a short time 
from an accident. The Rev. William Harris was called December 
23d, 1801, and served until November 14th, 1816, about fifteen 

492 



REV. JAMES H. RYLANCE, D. D. 

years, when he resigned, by reason of the duties of President of 
Columbia College, to which he had been previously elected, re- 
quiring all of his time. On December 3d, 1816, the Rev William 
Creighton was called, and remained the rector for nearly twenty 
years, until May 5th, 1836. The Rev. Dr. Henry Anthon was 
called December 17th, 1836, and was the rector until his death, 
many years later. In May, 1861, the Rev. Dr. Alexander H. Vinton 
became the rector, and remained a number of years. For an inter- 
val there was no regular rector, when, in 1871, the Rev. Dr. Ry- 
lance accepted a call to the parish. The church is still pleasantly 
located, and attended by many of the old families. 

Dr. Rylance is of the medium height, with a solid, vigorous frame, 
and a large, intellectual head. On first acquaintance he is some- 
what reserved, but this soon wears away into a most genial and af- 
fable sociality. He is of a cheerful, frank, ont-spoken nature, when 
once on terms of intimacy with you, and association with him be- 
comes characterized by that superior attractiveness belonging to 
culture and good nature combined. A man of deep learning and a 
thoroughly student life, he is also one of most practical observa- 
tion. Consequently, his opinions are always well-informed, valuable, 
and useful. In social life he exerts a powerful influence, for he is 
a ready talker, quick and keen in his statements and arguments, 
and so interesting and agreeable withal that he instantly obtains 
both attention and esteem. In his public duties he is equally marked 
for a force of character and far-reaching ability, which secure to him 
the highest results in all his labors. 

He writes with great scope and beauty of thought. He has a 
fluent and easy command of the best English, and he is singularly 
happy in unfolding the treasures of scholarly research, in elaborating 
the details of arguments and facts, and in the glowing paintings of 
his fancy. These writings are always attractive reading, and when 
uttered by him as sermons or lectures have the added charm of an 
expressive and eloquent delivery. 

A critical examination of the merits of Dr. Rylance as a preacher 
must necessarily place them beyond all dispute. In every particu- 
lar he is found capable of maintaining the reputation of the pulpit, 
for learning, eloquence and piety in their utmost degree. Showing 
a propriety in all things, as far as conduct is concerned, and having 
the power of commanding talents, he stands at once one of the shin- 
ing ornaments and earnest workers of his profession. 

493 



REV. WM. T. SABINE, 



RECTOR OF THE CHURCH OF" THE ATONE- 
MENT, NEW YORK!. 




EY. WILLIAM T. SABINE was born in New York, 
October 16th, 1838. He was graduated at Columbia 
College in 1859, and at the General Episcopal Theological 
Seminary in 1862. He was made deacon in 1862, at the 
Church of the Transfiguration, by Bishop Potter, and priest in 
«22 1863, at the Church of the Ascension, by the same bishop. 
He was first settled as assistant to Bev. Dr. Tyng, at St. George's 
Church, where he remained nine months. In Decembei-, 1863, he 
was called to the Church of the Covenant, Philadelphia, where he 
remained until April, 1866, when he returned to New York, to un- 
dertake the rectorship of the Church of the Atonement, then a new 
parish. 

A few Episcopal gentlemen having determined that another church 
of their fast growing denomination was necessary in the upper portion 
of the city, religious services were commenced in the chapel of the 
Home of the Friendless, in Twenty-ninth street. Out of this effort 
grew the Church of the Atonement, which was organized in No- 
vember, 1865, having ten communicants. Mr. Sabine was called to 
the rectorship, and the church became exceedingly prosperous. The 
church property on the corner of Madison avenue and Twenty-eighth 
street, about to be vacated by Dr. Osgood's Unitarian congregation, 
and formerly owned by Dr. Montgomery's Episcopal congregation, 
was purchased by the Church of the Atonement for seventy thousand 
dollars, and duly occupied May 14th, 1867. The entire indebtedness 
has been paid, with the exception of about seventeen thousand dol- 
lars. The number of communicants is now two hundred, and the 
Sunday-school has one hundred and twenty children, and is increasing. 
Mr. Sabine is of the medium height. His head is large and round 
in the upper portion, the brow being full and overhanging. His eyes 
are light and deep-set in their sockets. It is not to be doubted but 

494 



EEV. "WILLIAM T. SABINE. 

that he has much strength of mental action, moral resolution, and 
physical energy. As a student at college and the seminary he -was 
conspicuous for his application to his studies, and for his powerful, 
natural qualities of mind. In the lesser public duties of the rector, 
such as reading the services, etc., his performance is entirely satisfac- 
tory. As a preacher he is equally acceptable in point of matter. 
His sermons show thought and originality, and, in fact, nothing is 
more clear in his character than a desire, which amounts to a deter- 
mination, to be his own thinker. Hence he takes hold of his subjects 
of thought in a mode peculiarly his own ; and while his language is 
terse and to some extent brilliant, his reasoning is taken from newly 
conceived standpoints, and is full of force. His hearers are compelled 
to treat his sermons with the profound respect and attention which 
intellectual thought is always entitled to receive. Mr. Sabine has 
gathered a large and attached congregation. His deeply religious 
and conscientious life is suggestive to all who observe it, while its 
measure of success in not less noticeable. 



495 



REV. PHILIP SCHAFF, PH. D., D. D., 

PROFESSOR OF THE'UNION THEOLOGICAL 
SEMINABY, ]VEW YORK. 




EV. DR. PHILIP SCHAFF was born in Chur, in the 
Canton of Grisons, Switzerland, January 1st, 1819. He 
was educated at the Universities of Tubingen, Halle, and 
Berlin, at the last of which he was graduated a doctor of 
ilosphy, and licentiate of divinity in 1841. After this a con- 
siderable period was given to travel, as the private tutor of a 
Prussian nobleman, through France, Switzerland and Italy. Return- 
ing to Berlin he became a lecturer on theology. 

In October, 1843, the synod of the German Reformed Church, in 
session at Winchester, Virginia, invited him to accept a professorship 
of theology at Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, and having been ordained 
at Elbertfeld, he came to America in 1844. A charge of heresy was 
brought against him before the synod which met at York, Pennsyl- 
vania, by reason of certain views expressed in a work published in 
Berlin, previous to his call to the United States, and also in his in- 
augural at Mercersburg, but he was honorably acquitted. He re- 
mained in this professorship for a number of years, teaching in con- 
nection with Dr. Nevin and Dr. Wolff. In 1854, he went to Europe 
as the representative of the German Reformed Church of America in 
two important religious assemblages of that date, and at Berlin and 
other places accejDted invitations to lecture on America. He received 
the degree of D. D. from the University of Berlin in the same year. 
At length he removed to the city of 1ST ew York, where he has found 
a field affording him the widest opportunities for his scholarly attain- 
ments and pious zeal. In 1869, he accepted his present professorship 
of Apologetics and Symbolics in the Union Theological Seminary. 
He made several visits to Europe in behalf of the American Branch 
of the Evangelical Alliance, to arrange for the meeting in New York, 
first appointed for 1870, and then postponed, on account of the French 

and German war, to 1873. The Evangelical Alliance, consisting of 

496 



REV. PHILIP SCHAFF, PH. D.. D. D. 

Christians of different nationalities and creeds, was founded in Lon- 
don, in 1846, for the express purpose of promoting religious liberty 
and Christian union on the basis of that liberty. When it was de- 
termined to memorialize the Emperor of Kussia on the subject of the 
religious persecutions in that Empire, particularly in the Baltic prov- 
inces, a Commission of influential American citizens was appointed 
to join with similar deputations from the various foreign branches of 
the Alliance. This commission consisted of fourteen gentlemen, of 
whom Dr. Schaff was one of the most prominent and active. On the 
assembling and organizing of the delegations at Stuttgart, Dr. Schaff 
was elected President, and at the interview with Prince Gortschakoff, 
the Russian Prime Minister, at Friedrichshafen, in Germany, July 
14th, 1871, he presented the members of the deputation by name, 
and then stated on their behalf, the specific object of their mission. 
The interview lasted over an hour and a half, during which several 
of the delegates further advocated the subject, and the Prince entered 
fully and respectfully into the discussion. He declined to receive 
the European memorial, by reason of some objectionable language 
in it, and at his suggestion, the American memorial was finally with- 
drawn ; but the Emperor has since acted favorably upon some of the 
named grievances. 

At the request of the British committee, for the revision of the 
Authorized English Version of the Scriptures, through the Dean of 
Westminister, Dr. Schaff extended an invitation to American schol- 
ars to co-operate with them in the work. A meeting was held in New 
York, December 7th, 1871, at which an American committee of 
twenty-two eminent theological scholars was appointed to aid in the 
revision, who are thus engaged. Dr. Schaff is at the head of the 
division of the committee in charge of the New Testament revision. 

Two sections of the constitution adapted by the meeting provide 
as follows : — 

" The British companies will submit to the American companies, 
from time to time, such portions of their work as have passed the 
first revision ; and the American companies will transmit their criti- 
cisms and suggestions to the British companies before the second re- 
vision. 

" A joint meeting of the American and British companies shall 
be held, if possible, in London, before final action." 

Dr. Schaff has written, translated, and edited a large number of 

497 



BEY. PHILIP SCHAFF, PH.D., D. D. 

important works. He has published in German " The Sin against 
the Holy Ghost," (1844, Halle); "On James and the Brothers of 
Jesus," (Geneva and Chambersburg, Penn., 1851) ; " History of the 
Apostolic Church," (Mercersburg, 1851, second edition, Leipsic, 1854, 
translated into English by the Eev. E. D. Youmans, New York and 
Edinburgh, 1853 ; translated also into the Dutch and French) ; " Ger- 
man Hymn Book, with a Historical Introduction and Notes," (Phila- 
delphia and Berlin, 1859). His works in English are, "What is 
Church History, A Vindication of the Idea of Historical Develop- 
ment," (Philadelphia, 1846) ; " St. Augustine ; His Life and Labors," 
(New York, 1853, German, Berlin, 1854); "America; its Political, 
Social, and Eeligious Character," (Lectures delivered by request in 
Berlin, 1850, and translated into English in 1855) ;" Germany ; its 
Universities and Divines," (Philadelphia, 1857); "History of the 
Christian Church of the first three centuries," in four volumes, (New 
York and Edinburgh, 1858) ; " The Moral Character of Christ ; or, 
the Perfection of Christ's Humanity, a proof of his Divinity," (1860), 
and a Catechism for Sunday Schools," (1861). He published the 
Kirchenfeund, a theological monthly for the German Churches of 
America, from 1848 to 1853, and was co-editor of the Mercersburg 
Review for several years. He is now engaged in the translation and 
revision of the great work entitled, " A commentary on the Holy 
Scriptures, Critical, Devotional, and Homiletical, by John Peter Lange, 
D. D., of which fifteen volumes have been published. In 1873, he 
edited and published in New York, " The Eevision of the English 
Version of the New Testament," as discussed by the Eev. Doctors 
Lightfoot, Ellicott, and French, with an introduction by himself He 
has also contributed largely to American and foreign periodicals. He 
preaches occasionally, but most of his appearances as a speaker re- 
late to special objects of public interest. At all such times he is 
fluent, learned, and interesting. 

Dr. Schaff is of the medium height, and equally proportioned. 
He has a decidedly intellectual head, with a countenance usually 
composed and serious, but which in conversation lights up with ani- 
mation. His manners are courteous, and he is affable and kindly 
with all persons. He ranks with the ablest theological scholars, teach- 
ers, and writers of the brilliant period in which he lives. A man of 
profound erudition, unwearying application to study, and remarkable 
energy, he has, also, those popular personal characteristics, which 
readily secure extended acquaintance and influence. 

498 



REV. NOAH H. SCHENCK, D. D., 

RECTOR OF ST. jVNTST'S ESPICOPAL CHUBCH, 
ZBROOKHLTS^V 




for 



EV. DR. NOAH H. SCHENCK was born in Mercer 
county, New Jersey, about eight miles from Trenton, June 
30th, 1825. He was graduated at Princeton College in 
1844, and, after due preparation, was admitted to the bar 
of New Jersey. He practiced at Trenton for one year, when, 
in 1848, he went to Cincinnati, where he continued his profession 
three years longer. Having now determined upon a clerical 
career, he commenced a theological course at the Episcopal seminary 
of Gambier, Ohio, where he was graduated in 1853. In the same vear 
he was made deacon at Grace Church, Brooklyn, by Bishop Mcll- 
vaine, of Ohio, and priest in the following year, by the same bishop, 
at St. James' Church, Zanesville, Ohio. He was first settled over a 
parish at Hillsboro', in Ohio, where he remained from 1853 to the 
spring of 1856. During this time he was instrumental in the erec- 
tion of one of the most beautiful Gothic churches to be found in the 
whole State. He next went to the parish connected with the college 
at Gambier, where he labored from Easter, 1856, to August, 1857. 
A great revival marked his ministry in this period. Seventy-four 
persons united with the church at one time, of whom forty-eight 
were students of the college. In 1857 he went to Trinity Church, 
Chicago, where he officiated, until 1859. He established and edited 
the Western Churchman, in Chicago, and also organized the Protes- 
tant Aid Society of Illinois. In 1859 he became the successor of 
the Rev. Dr. Johns at Emanuel Church, Baltimore, where he re- 
mained until May 1st, 1867, when he became rector of his present 
extensive parish, St. Ann's, of the city of Brooklyn. At one 
period Dr. Schenck owned and edited the Protestant Church- 
man, of New York. A volume of "Letters from Europe" 
will probably soon appear. He has published a large num- 
ber of occasional sermons and addresses. During the last year 

499 



REV. NOAH H. SCHENCK, D. D 

his sermons, addresses, and speeches have averaged one for each 
day. He received his degree of D. D. from Princeton College 
about 1865. He has visited Europe several times. On the 14th of 
July, 1871, he was present as one of the deputation of the American 
branch of the Evangelical Alliance appointed to memorialize the 
Emperor of Russia in behalf of religious liberty in that empire, at 
the interview with Prince GortschakofF, the Prime Minister, held at 
Friedricbshafen, in Grermany. 

Episcopal worship was held in Brooklyn at an early date. Says 
an account: "The introduction of the Episcopal service in this town 
was nearly co-equal with the entrance of the British army. Al- 
though it has been conjectured that it was some years antecedent to 
that event, there is no evidence of this fact Before the revolution 
the settlement was very small, and all the inhabitants, it is believed, 
were connected with the Dutch congregation, which then constituted 
the only religious society. During the war, as it was natural to ex- 
pect, the British officers had divine services performed according to 
the forms of their own church. Where they usually met is not 
known, but, with a truly catholic spirit, the Dutch people kindly al- 
lowed them the use of their church, when not occupied by their own 
ministers. This General Johnson recollects as a fact" 

Rev. James Sayre officiated from 1778 to about the time of the 
evacuation, in 1783, and was followed by the Rev. George Wright. 
The place of meeting was a private house in what is now Fulton 
street The barn of John Middagh, in the rear of his house, which 
was on the corner of Fulton and Henry streets, was next occupied, 
and then a building in the neighborhood, erected by the British dur- 
ing the war, was fitted up for the purpose. In 1785 a small frame 
house, which had been erected on what was subsequently the Epis- 
copal burial ground, on Fulton street, opposite Clark street, became 
the place of worship, and was consecrated by Bishop Provost in 
1787. The society was incorporated April 23d, 1787, as the " Epis- 
copal Church of Brooklyn," and on a reorganization, June 22d, 1795, 
was incorporated as "St Ann's Church," a name long given it in 
compliment to Mrs. Ann Sands, who with her husband, Joshua 
Sands, presented a valuable site for a church edifice. A new stone 
church was erected on the corner of Sands and Washington streets, 
and consecrated May 30th, 1805. The walls of this building were 
seriously damaged by the explosion of a powder mill in the vicinity, 

and the edifice at present on this site was erected in 1824. Rev. 

500 



RET. NOAH H. SCHENCK, D. D. 

Elija.li D. Kettoone was the rector from 1789 to 1792; Rev. Samuel 
Nesbitt from 1793 to 1798; Eev. John Ireland from 1798 to 1807; 
Rev. Dr. Feltus from 1807 to 1814 ; Rev. Dr. John T. K. Henshaw, 
afterward Bishop of Rhode Island, from 1814 to 1817 ; Rev. Dr. 
Hugh Smith from 1817 to 1819 ; Rev. Dr. Henry W. Onderdonk, 
afterward Bishop of Pennsylvania, from 1819 to 1827 ; Rev. Dr. Chas. 
T. Mcllvaine, afterward Bishop of Ohio, from 1827 to 1833 ; Rev. 
Dr. Benjamin C. Cutler from 1833 to 1863 ; Rev. Laurence H. Mills 
from 1864 to 1867, when the Rev. Dr. Schenck became the incum- 
bent. It will thus be seen that some of the most eminent men in 
the Episcopal church have held the rectorship of this ancient church. 
It is largely endowed, owning valuable property in both Brooklyn 
and New York. A fine row of stores occupy the old burial ground, 
from which the dead were removed a few years since. 

By reason of the growth of the city and the removal of many 
of the congregation from the neighborhood of the early church, it be- 
came necessary to provide for a building in some other section 
Accordingly very eligible lots were purchased on the corner ol 
Clinton and Livingston streets, where a magnificent church and chapel 
have been erected. The chapel was first completed and at once 
occupied. The corner-stone of the main edifice was laid May 8th, 
1867, and the completed structure was opened for public worship, 
with imposing services, October 20th, 1869. The entire cost of the 
chapel, church, and organ was three hundred and fifty thousancf 
dollars. Both the exterior and interior of this imposing church 
edifice have strongly marked characteristics, and command attention 
by novel and unique architectural features. The exterior is a com- 
bination of Belleville brown stone and white stone from the Ohio 
quarries. The architecture is that known as decorated or middle 
pointed. The result of the use of the two kinds of stone in the 
manner it is employed, is to bring out strongly the contrast of the 
red and white. The uncommon height of the building, which is one 
hundred feet from the floor to the pitch of the roof, contributes 
largely to the effect both without and within. Towers rise above 
the ridge and cresting of the roof to the height of thirty-six feet. 
The caps of the columns of the central entrance doors are richly 
carved in leaves and grapes, mingled with ears of wheat, expressive 
and suggestive of the elements of the sacrament. The traceries of 
the windows are all of stone, and of an elaborate nature. The lines 

and figures are geometrical, and have a strong and beautiful expres- 

501 



REV. NOAH H. SCHENCK, D. D. 

sion, combining ideas typical and illustrative of different Christian 
principles, such as the interlacing of the triangle and trefoil, sug- 
gestive of the indivisibility and equality of the Godhead. The 
body of the edifice has five parallel aisles. The chancel is a most 
striking feature, being very rich and elaborate, and having a different 
arrangement from most Episcopal churches. The galleries are broad 
and spacious. The beautiful windows of stained glass have texts 
from Holy Writ, such as "I am the bread of life," "I am the light 
of the world," etc. The walls, ceiling, and arches are painted in 
different colors with much artistic taste. On the right side of the 
chancel are the robing, vestry, Bible class, infants' and music rooms, 
and rector's study. The basement is devoted to the Sunday school, 
and is a spacious and convenient apartment The church is lighted 
in an ingenious manner by jets around the caps of the nave columns, 
and the heating and ventilation are all accomplished by the most 
approved plans. In architectural finish, in richness of ornamenta- 
tion, and in general completeness and convenience, this structure has 
no superior in the United States. 

The old church, on Washington street, is still maintained, with a 
clergyman in charge. There are between five and six hundred com- 
municants attending the two churches, and about eight hundred 
children in the Sunday schools. 

Dr. Schenck is a person of large physical proportions and most 
impressive presence. He is tall, round, and erect Equally propor- 
tioned, he is easy and graceful in all his movements. His head is 
made to match this commanding and finely proportioned stature. 
It is large and noble in its every aspect, and rests well poised, with 
its evident wealth of mental power, as the crown of perfection to 
the whole physical man. The features are regular and highly intel- 
lectual. His eyes are soft, but have a direct and observing glance. 
The whole expression of his face is amiable in the extreme, but it is 
an amiability that has mingled with it none of the elements of a 
mere passive weak character. On the contrary, Dr. Schenck is 
decided and forcible, and has great individuality in all his proceed- 
ings. His is a nature gentle, feu-bearing, and good, and yet one of 
ever-present firmness and dignity in action. All the high-toned 
qualities and finished graces of the born and educated gentleman 
appear in his intercourse with all classes. He is entirely approach- 
able, as his manners and address are most courteous and bland, but 
still he has a natural dignity that greatly impresses you. In the dif 

502 



SET. NOAH H. SCHENCK, D. D. 

fercnt circles of society, whether it be the unrestrained and genial, or 
the learned and sedate, he is equally admired. Cheerful and fascin- 
ating in the one, he is instructive and circumspect in the other. 
Frank, generous, and lofty-minded in all his impulses, he is a man 
who quickens the heart with its most sincere attachments, and inspires 
the mind to its most virtuous aspirations. 

He is a preacher of eloquence and power. As soon as you look 
at him in the pulpit you become convinced of his ability. His 
massive head, and his face beaming in every line with intellectuality, 
tell the eye of the observer that here is a man of force, of will, and 
brain. When he speaks, this opinion is fully confirmed. His voice 
is firm, full, and smooth. His language is choice, terse, and elo- 
quent. He is argumentative, but lias passages of fine imagery 
throughout. All that he says shows the thoughtful and scholarly 
man — one full of love for his fellow-creatures — one whose every 
impulse and hope is allied to virtue and religion — and one who, 
while he feels the holy comfort of an abiding faith, is fully alive to 
the responsibilities of his pastoral office. All his talents, all his 
zeal, and all his nerve are devoted to his work. He begrudges 
nothing, but rather concentrates and intensifies everything to secure 
the more fruitful success. In his sermons, filling the measure of 
oratory and scholarship, he is in no wise lacking in religious fervor 
and solemnity. 

Dr. Schenck is one of the strong men of the day. He moves 
in the path of duty and labor with no uncertainty of purpose or 
hesitation of action. Endowed with natural talents of a high order, 
his learning has attained to the most profound scholarship. A 
theologian, but also a practical and wide observer in regard to every 
department of human interest, he is thoroughly informed for the 
work of a leader and teacher among men. His efforts, not less than 
his talents, are worthy of the intelligent age in which he lives. A 
servant of the church, he is at the same time its hero. Humble and 
obedient in doing the will of the Master, he is a bold aggressive 
champion of the faith. Beautiful in character, and pure in life, he 
is unwearying in professional energy, and devout and self-sacrificing 
in all his duties. 

503 



REV. WILLIAM A. SCOTT, D.D., LL. D., 

T.A T'-f; PASTOR OF THE FORTY.SECOND STREET 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, jVEW YORK. 




>EV. DR. WILLIAM A. SCOTT was born near Nash- 
ville, Tennessee, January 30th, 1813. He was graduated 
at Cumberland University in 1833, and in theology at 
Princeton Seminary in 1834. Before going to Cumberland 
College in 1829, he was licensed at Cumberland University ; in 
«&3 1829 he was licensed as a Presbyterian minister by the Presby- 
tery of Hopewell, West Tennessee, and for the period of one year was 
a missionary in the then wilds of Tennessee and Kentucky. He 
traveled on horseback among the Indian tribes and white settlements, 
pioneering out his own roads, lying out at night, and preaching in the 
cabins, forest, or anywhere that hearers could be obtained. On one 
occasion he had an appointment at a log building, but a storm kept 
away all save one man, to whom the sermon was preached, as a large 
fire crackled on the dirt floor in the centre of the apartment. He 
served as a volunteer chaplain during the Black Hawk war, passing 
most of the time at Fort Crawford, Prairie du Chien. At the close 
of the Black Hawk war he descended the Mississippi river, whose 
banks were then without white inhabitants, to Keokuk in a small 
canoe with no other campanion than a small half-breed Sioux boy ; 
and returning to the University he recommenced his studies, and was 
enabled to graduate with his class in 1833. In 1834, leaving Prince- 
ton Seminary, he entered the Presbytery of Louisiana and labored as 
a missionary in that State, being ordained in 1835, at Alexandria, on 
Eed River. His health failing him, he accepted a call to the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian Church, at Winchester, Tennessee, where he 
remained from 1836 until 1838. In the latter year he became Presi- 
dent of the Nashville Female Academy, and also preached at the 
Hermitage Church, on the estate of General Andrew Jackson. It 
may be stated that Dr. Scott's relations with the immortal Jackson 

were of the most intimate character, and he possesses many autograph 

504 



EEV. WILLIAM A. SCOTT, D. L\, LL. D. 

letters and souvenirs of the departed statesman. A copy of an en- 
graving, thought by Gen. Jackson to be the best extant of himself, 
bears on the back, in bold penmanship, this inscription : " Gen. A. 
Jackson, with his kind regards, presents his friend, the Eev. Mr. 
Scott, the enclosed picture of himself, as a memento of his personal 
esteem and kind recollection of his friend, Mr. Scott. Hermitage, 
November 29th, 1841. Andrew Jackson." In 1839, Dr. Scott 
became pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 
where he remained eighteen months, going in 1841 to the Presby- 
terian Church on Lafayette square, New Orleans. Later, his health 
failed him, and he went twice to Europe, and also visited California. 
The climate of the Pacific restored him, and, returning, he resigned 
his charge in New Orleans, in 1854, and, removing to San Francisco, 
organized the Calvary Presbyterian congregation, over which he re- 
mained until 1861. It was mainly through Dr. Scott's exertions that 
University College, San Francisco, was established in 1859. He deliv- 
ered a powerful sermon, entitled "A Discourse for the Times," in 1856, 
during the reign of terror under the Vigilance Committee, taking 
ground against its proceedings, In 1858, he was Moderator of the 
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. Eesigning his 
charge in San Francisco, he a third time took his departure for 
Europe, and remained abroad two years, a portion of the time min- 
istering in New John street Presbyterian Church, Birmingham. He 
published in London one of the first replies addressed to Bishop 
Colenso, entitled " Moses and the Pentateuch." 

Reaching New York in the Summer of 1863, Dr. Scott accepted 
the pastorship of the Forty-second street Presbyterian Church. 
Dr. Scott received the degree of A. M. from the University of 
Alabama in 1840, and that of D. D. from the same institution 
in 1844. While abroad in 1850-51, he made the tour of 
the Holy Land. For three years he was editor of the New Orleans 
Presbyterian, and he founded the Pacific. Expositor, a religious 
magazine. He is also the author of " Daniel, a Model for Young 
Men," published in 1854; " Wedge of Gold," 1856-58; "Trade and 
Letters — their Journeys Pound the World," 1856 ; " Giant Judge, or 
the Story of Samson," 1859-60 ; " Esther, the Hebrew Queen," 1859 ; 
' L The Church in the Army," 1862 ; besides various sermons, &c. A 
sermon entitled " Bible and Politics," being a plea for religious free 
dom in the public schools, made a great sensation. More recently he 
published his most important work, " The Christ of the Apostles' 

505 



REV. WILLIAM A. SCOTT, D. D., LL. D. 

Creed : the voice of the Church against Arianism, Strauss and Kenan." 
"With an appendix, by Eev. W. A. Scott, D. D. 

"We take the following selection from a sermon entitled "Faith, 
the Element of Missions," preached before a General Assembly of 
the Presbyterian Church : 

"There is no faculty of the mind, no noble and pure affection of the heart, no 
proper action of social relation of man, that true religion does not recognize and 
bless. A belief in God is itself the sublimest conception the human mini can en- 
tertain. An intelligent, earnest apprehension of God as our Heavenly Father does 
more than anything else to expand, strengthen, elevate and refine the human intellect. 
As mind is truly the offspring of God, the entrance of his word giveth light. Other things 
being equal, the pious are possessed of more strength of intellect, of greater sources 
of enjoyment, and of infinitely greater expectations in the world to come. It is in 
those countries and amongst those races and generations that have been most com- 
pletely under the influence of the Word of God that we find the highest development 
of intellect, virtue, and patriotism. It is in their history that we see the greatest 
breadth and solidity of character, the sublimest conceptions of the invisible world, 
and the purest forms of government. It is with them that we find the poetry of 
ac ion and the loftiness of genius. There was poetry loftier than the strains of Mil- 
ton in the faith and heroism and moral sublimity of the Mayflower's cabin, when, as 
has been beautifully said, she hovered near the rocky shore, ' like a wounded sea-fowl, 
seeking some place to die. ' Three thousand miles of waves stretched behind them 
and between them and civilization. Their sails streamed in shreds through the win- 
ter's blasts, and before them lay an unknown, frowning, snow-clad coast, where the 
howling of the wild beast mingled with the wilder war-cry of the savage : and yet we 
hear of no regret shaking the high resolve of a single heart, nor of a tear dimming 
the lustre of a woman's eye. As they had lived by faith as pilgrims and strangers in 
the old world, of whom it was not worthy, so by faith they had crossed the stormy 
ocean; and now by faith they framed laws and made a constitution for a new empire, 
and then by faith debarked, and in faith poured out their hearts in psalms of gratitude, 
and build a house for God and a house for the instruction of their children ; and so 
do their descendants to this day, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. When our pious 
fathers landed on the shores of the new world, they sowed a handful of seed-corn of 
the most precious kind on the broad fields of this vast continent, and, it being in- 
creased by fresh winnowings from Ireland, Scotland, Germany, and France, has 
multiplied itself a thousand fold, and the fruit thereof is now shaking as Lebanon over 
the globe. Was there nothing but witchcraft, blue laws, nasal chanting, and psalm- 
singing among the first settlers of America ? Was there no poetry, no faith, no 
heroism, no missionary spirit, in the high-souled, Heaven-trusting, Jesus-loving bands 
that sought the wilderness for freedom to worship God ? A careful study of the history 
of a large majority of the emigrants who first settled America shows that their prin- 
ciples and character were formed by reading and studying the Bible. Their faith 
seized on things to come, and brought them in daily communion with the living 
truths and unseen beings of a spiritual world. To them the Word of God was every- 
thing. To them the famous motto of Chillmgworth had a real meaning and applica- 
tion — ' The Bible is the religion of Protestants.' " 

In 1870, Dr. Scott accepted an earnest invitation to return to San 
Francisco, where he was warmly welcomed, and soon succeeded in 
establishing, St John's Presbyterian Church. This is now a large 

506 



KEV. WILLIAM A. SCOTT, D. D., LL. D. 

and flourishing congregation of which, he is the pastor. Dr. Scott 
is also Professor of Systematic Theology in the San Francisco Theo- 
logical Seminary, an institution recently established. 

The University of New York conferred upon Dr. Scott the 
honorary degree of LL. D. in 1872. 

Dr. Scott is tall, with a large, broad frame, and high, rather round 
shoulders. His head is of good size, and, while it has no peculiarly 
striking marks in its formation, is well developed in the intellectual 
portions. The eyes are small and calm, but full of intelligence, and 
the whole expression of the countenance is that of a kind-hearted, re- 
flective, and far-seeing man. His manners are courteous and genial 
in the extreme. He interests you at once as a man of far more than 
the ordinary ability. Laying aside everything like reserve, he readily 
and delightfully falls into animated conversation. His conversational 
powers are the amplest. He exhibits a fund of the widest learning 
and the richest thought upon deeper subjects, and not less spirit and 
intelligence in regard to those of a more common character. His life 
has been one of a varied experience, the largest acquaintance with 
his fellows, and a clear-sighted observation. A missionary in the 
wilds of America, a tourist in refined Europe, a pilgrim in the Holy 
Land, a preacher in the great cities, his field of view has been the 
most extensive ; and to experience he has added a treasure of lore 
gained in a lifetime of profound mental application. Fame and hon- 
ors have never lifted him away from sympathy and communion with 
the humblest who might cross his path, and exalted learning has not 
made him less the genial companion of those without a like possession. 
Hence there is a plainness, simplicity and frankness in his deportment 
and speech which make him companionable for all men, and at the 
same time, when the occasion requires it, he rises to the grandest 
height of brilliant and dignified scholarship. 

Dr. Scott is an excellent writer and an agreeable speaker. 
If one thing more than another is apparent, it is that he has 
full mastery of his subject. A giant strength for debate is self- 
evident, a commanding self-possession appears throughout, and 
neither learning nor pessonal sincerity is ever lacking. His 
arguments stand forth impregnable bulwarks of logic, while every 
step in them is illustrated by the heart's pious and sympathetic over- 
flowings. Of an independent, courageous nature, his assaults upon 
error are bold and uncompromising ; but to the suffering spirit he 
uses a tenderness of expression in which his religion and his emotions 
have an equal part. 507 



REV. HENRY MARTYN SCUDDER, D. D., 

PASTOR OE THE CENTRAL CONGREGATIONAL 
CHURCH, BROOKLYN. 




EV. DR. HENRY MARTYN SCUDDER was bom in 
Panditerripoo, in the Island of Ceylon, lying off the 
Southern coast of Hindoostan, in the year 1822. His 
father was a missionary. He came to the United States 
when ten years old. In 1840, at the age of eighteen, he was 
graduated at the New York University, and in 1843 at the 
Union Theological Seminary, New York. He was ordained as an 
evangelist of the Third Presbytery of New York, and sailed as a 
missionary for India in May, 1844. For twenty years he pursued 
the self-sacrificing labors of a missionary in India, and finally re- 
turned on account of ill health to the United States. 

After a settlement of a few months over a church in Jersey City, 
N. J., he was called to the pastorate of the Howard Presbyterian 
Church in San Francisco, California. He went to the Pacific coast 
in 1865, where he soon attracted a great deal of attention by his 
eloquent preaching. Six years later, in 1871, he accepted a call to 
the Central Congregational Church of Brooklyn, to succeed the Rev. 
J. Clement French, who had resigned by reason of impaired health. 

The first church edifice of this congregation, in Ormond Place, 
was built in 1853, at a cost of $27,000, by R. L. Crook, Esq., in the 
tnen suburbs of the city, doubtless " to enhance the value of the 
owner's large real estate interest in the vicinity," having "also a well 
considered regard for its moral and social influence upon the com- 
munity of which it was by-and-by to become the center." The 
Congregationalists were the first to occupy the building as a society, 
having organized in 1854, under Rev. Mr.' Parker, who was succeed- 
ed by Mr. French. In 1863 extensive improvements were made in 
the building, at an expenditure of three thousand dollars. A new 
organ cost two thousand dollars additional. At that date the con- 
gregation had increased from scarcely a dozen to one hundred and 

508 



REV. HENRY MARTYN SCUDDER, D. D. 

seventy-five families, and it continued thus to prosper and increase 
throughout the ministry of Mr. French. Soon after Dr. Scudder 
came, the imposing structure now occupied was erected. It cost a 
large sum of money, and contains one of the most capacious and 
finest audience rooms in the country. 

Dr. Scudder received the degree of M. D. from the New York 
University, and the degree of D. D. from Rutgers College, New 
Brur.swick. In all his pastoral positions, as well as in active rela- 
tions to the leading religious movements and enterprises of the day, 
he has been an efficient and conscientious worker, and he conse- 
quently exerts an influence which goes far beyond his own church 
and denomination. He often appears on the platform as a speaker, 
at anniversaries and other meetings of the city organizations engag- 
ed in different works of evangelization and reform, where he is 
listened to with great interest and profit. 

He is a man of the most sincere convictions of piety and duty. 
All the associations and impulses of his life have been of a nature 
to lead him to a deep spirituality of thought and conduct. He is 
absorbed in his mission to men, and in the faithful performance of 
all its obligations is his highest ambition and his eternal hopes. 
Hence in the daily demands of pastoral duty, and in the preaching of 
God's word, he is solely intent upon accomplishing the greatest good 
to his fellow- creatures by the untiring application of his -talents and 
energies to the purpose in view. In the first case, it is not personal 
convenience, nor in the second, is it desire for personal fame which 
control him, but in both it is the yearning and the resolution to dif- 
fuse the comforts of religion among a sinful and immortal race. 

Dr. Scudder's sermons are productions of far more than ordinary 
power. Learning, piety, and zeal are all aglow in them. With a 
force and emphasis of action peculiar to the man, and with a clear- 
ness and beauty of language which are invariable to his thought and 
utterance, he makes all occasions and all themes of memorable inter- 
est He is fluent and impassioned. His command of language and 
grasp of his subject are both complete. Sometimes his words are 
quite ornate, though always powerful. Impressive in his appearance 
and a natural as well as a cultivated orator, he is well calculated to 
teach and move the masses. Arresting the public attention alike by 
his pleasing gifts of eloquence and erudition, he is one who makes 
full use of this circumstance for the advancement of religion. 

509 



REV. WILLIAM J. SEABURY, 

RECTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE AJVIVTJIVCIA.- 
TIOjV, NEW YORK!. 




EY. WILLIAM J. SEABUEY, son of the late Eev. Dr, 
Samuel Seabury, was born in the city of New York, 
January 25th, 1837. He was graduated at Columbia 
College in 1856. He then studied law in the office of 
Stephen P. Nash, was admitted to the bar in 1858, and 
remained in practice for several years. In the autumn of 
1864, he entered the General Episcopal Theological Seminary, and 
was graduated in the middle class in 1866. He was ordained dea- 
con in June, 1866, at the Church of the Annunciation, by Bishop 
Potter, and priest on the feast of St. Andrew, November 30th, 1867, 
at the same church and by the same prelate. Immediately on his 
first ordination he became the assistant of his father, who had been 
the rector .of the Church of the Annunciation since its organization 
in 1838. In 1868 Dr. Seabury resigned the rectorship, when the 
Bev. William J. Seabury was at once elected to fill the vacancy. 

As Dr. Seabury was the rector of this parish for thirty years, and 
greatly distinguished himself as a preacher, professor, and writer, a 
notice of him is not inappropriate in this place : 

Bev. Dr. Samuel Seabury was born at New London, Conn., June 
9th, 1801. He was the son of Bev. Charles Seabury, who was the 
son of Bev. Samuel Seabury, Bishop of Connecticut and Bhode 
Island, who was also the son of a clergyman. The subject of our 
notice attended school at his native place during his residence there, 
but when about thirteen years of age his father removed to Setau- 
ket, Long Island. Here there was not much opportunity for school- 
ing, and his father's salary as a country clergyman, was not sufficient 
to give him the advantage of other schools, or the privilege of a col- 
lege education. When about seventeen or eighteen years of age, he 
came to New York to gain a living for himself, but found time to 
pursue studies of his own. After a time he gave up the business 

510 



RET. WILLIAM J. SEA BURY. 

pursuits in which he was engaged, and opened a school. Having 
prepared himself for the Episcopal ministry, he was ordained deacon, 
and afterward priest, by Bishop Hobart, about 1826-27. After ordi- 
nation, he spent some time in preaching at Jamaica and Setauket, 
and. then took charge of the parish of Huntington, where his father 
and great-grandfather had been settled, and where his grandfather 
had also officiated. About a year later he was called to a parish in 
Astoria, or Hallet's Cove, as it was then called, on Long Island. 
While in charge of this parish he formed a connection with Rev. Dr. 
William A. Muhlenberg to act as one of the professors of St. Paul's 
College, which was then being established at Flushing, Long Island. 
He continued in this position until about 1834-55. About the year 
1832 he was invited to take the editorship of The Churchman, 
then vacant by the resignation and absence in Europe of Rev. Dr. 
Whittingham, now Bishop of Maryland, and he discharged the duties 
of the position until 1850-51. After leaving Astoria he officiated 
temporarily at the Church of the Nativity and St. Luke's Church, 
in JSTew York, but had no permanent connection with any parish 
until the Church of the Annunciation was organized in 1838. 

The first services of this parish were held in the building on the 
corner of Prince and Thompson streets, now St. Ambrose's Church. 
In August, 1847, the present spacious stone church edifice in Four- 
teenth street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues was occupied. 
Dr. Seabury was the first rector. In the winter of 1861-62, he began 
to perform the duties of the professorship of Biblical Learning and 
Interpretation of Scriptures at the General Episcopal Theological 
Seminary, New York, residing at the Seminary. 

He received the degrees of M. A and D.D. from Columbia College. 
His published works were various occasional sermons, and the fol- 
lowing : " The Christianity of the Church of England in the Six- 
teenth Century ;" " The Supremacy and Obligation of Conscience ;" 
" American Slavery Distinguished from the Slavery of English 
Theorists, and Justified by the Law of Nature ;" " The Theory and 
Use of the Church Calendar." A sermon preached at the funeral of 
the late Right Rev. Benjamin T. Onderdonk, Bishop of New York, 
entitled " Witness unto Truth," had a large circulation. For some 
years his health was impaired, but he continued to discharge his 
duties as professor until his sudden and lamented decease on Thurs- 
day, October 10th, 1872, at the age of seventy-one years. 

The present rector of the Church of the Annunciation is very 

511 



REV. WILLIAM J. SEA BURT. 

efficient and popular. The congregation is still numerous, and the 
choral services are noted as being among the best in the city. There 
are daily morning and evening prayers, and the weekly communion. 

In 1865, and again in 1872, Mr. Seabury visited Europe. On the 
29th of October, 1868, he was married to Alice Van Wyck, daughter 
of Thomas Marston Beare, of New York. In 1873 he was elected 
Charles and Elizabeth Ludlow Professor of Ecclesiastical Polity and 
Law, in the Episcopal General Theological Seminary, New York. 

Mr. Seabury is of the average height, and equally proportioned. 
He has an intelligent countenance, and is affable in his manners and 
address. The Seabury family, through generations, has been one 
prominent for its religious and social culture, its clear, practical 
intelligence and earnest usefulness in life. This gentleman, in all 
these characteristics, is but a follower in the peculiarities and foot- 
steps of an illustrious ancestry. He has the highest virtue, much 
grasp of mind, and is ever busy in the Lord's work. He writes 
and preaches with scholarly power and eloquence, and his daily life 
is true to principle and duty. He has published a pamphlet con- 
taining an essay on the question of " The Lawfulness of Marriage 
with the Sister of a Deceased Wife," with " Thoughts on a Proposed 
Canon," which are papers of great logic and power, upholding the 
Levitical law, prohibiting marriages within this degree of kindred. 
Making no assumption in regard to either merit or success, still he is 
a man whose career in both particulars is likely to be very highly 
esteemed by his fellow-men. 

512 



REV. NORMAN SEAYER, D. D., 

PASTOR OE THE EIRST PRESBYTERIAN 
CHUKCH (X-XEIVRY ST.), BROOKLYN. 




EV. DR NOKMAN" SEAVEE was born in Boston, Mas- 
sachusetts, April 23d, 1834. He was graduated at the 
Latin School of that city in 1850, and at Williams 
College in 1854. In the following year he was ad- 
mitted to the Boston bar, where he practiced for some 
time. He determined, however, to study for the ministry, 
and, entering the theological seminary at Andover, Massa- 
chusetts, he pursued these investigations from 1858 to 1860, when 
he was graduated. His first settlement was over the Congregational 
Church at Eutland, Vermont, where he was ordained and installed 
in August, 1861. After a faithful service of over seven years, he 
accepted a call to the First Presbyterian Church in Henry street, 
Brooklyn, which is his present field of duty. He received the 
degree of D. D. from Middletown College, in Vermont, about 
1866. 

The First Presbyterian Church in Henry street is an old or- 
ganization, early under the care of the celebrated Eev. Dr. Carroll, 
and then under that of the learned Eev. Dr. Samuel H. Cox, who 
was installed in May, 1837. At the period of the difficulties in the 
Presbyterian Church, which finally led to the formation of what 
was called the Old and ISTew School branches, a division took place 
in the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, the seceders adhering 
to the Old School body, and those remaining to the New. Both took 
the title of the First Presbyterian Church, and still retain it, though 
now a part of the re-united Presbyterian Church, and members of 
the same . Presbytery. The other congregation was, for a long time, 
under the pastoral care of the Eev. Dr. Jacobus, who, in 1853, was 
succeeded by the Eev. Dr. Van Dyke. The church is more par- 
ticularly designated as the First Presbyterian Church in Eemsen 

513 



REV. NORMAN SEAVER, D. D. 

street Dr. Cox retired from the pastorship of the First Church in 
Henry street, after laboring seventeen years, leaving it one of the 
most numerous and wealthy congregations of Brooklyn. His first 
successor did not remain very long, and the next pastor was the 
Eev. Dr. Charles S. Robinson, who came in March, 1860, and re- 
mained several years. Dr. Seaver next became the pastor. There 
is a present membership of about six hundred persons. A Mission 
chapel, under the care of the Rev. Charles Wood, and a Sunday 
School, of five hundred and fifty scholars, located in Concord street, 
near the Navy Yard, are supported by the First Church, and the 
home Sunday School has one hundred and fifty scholars. 

Dr. Seaver is of the average height, with a well-proportioned 
and erect figure. His eyes and complexion are light, and, in every 
particular, he is an excellent type of the New Englander. He is 
polite and friendly in his manners, with, however, more reserve than 
forwardness. He talks pleasantly, and it is evident that he is a per- 
son of the utmost sincerity and kindness of feeling. In study he 
is an intellectual investigator, looking deeply into all subjects, and 
in his pastoral labors he is conscientious, devoted, and energetic. 
He preaches with a pointed and clear explanation of his theme, and 
with an earnest interest in the spiritual welfare of those committed 
to his charge. With constantly unfolding talents, and a steadfast 
purpose in doing his whole duty, he is one of the men upon whom 
his denomination and society may rely as a strong bulwark. 

514 



REV. GEORGE E. SEYMOUR, D. D., 

PltOPESSOn OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOKY IP* 

THE EPISCOPAL GENERAL THEOLOGICAL 

SEMLVARY, NEW YOKIt. 




1 EV. DB. GEOBGE F. SEYMOUE was born in the city 
of New York, January 5th, 1829, and is the son of Isaac 
1ST. Seymour, Esq., for forty -four years treasurer of the 
Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, and Elvira B., both 
deceased. His academic education was obtained at the Gram- 
mar School of Columbia College, and subsequently at the 
College. He entered the freshman class, and obtained and held the 
headship of his class until his graduation in 1850. At the semi- 
annual exhibition of 1848, when a sophomore, he gained the highest 
prize for declamation, having as his competitor the present distin- 
guished rector of Trinity parish, Eev. Dr. Morgan Dix. On gradua- 
tion he spoke the Greek salutatory, which was a poem of remarkable 
finish and power. He entered the Episcopal General Theological 
Seminary, New York, in the autumn of 1851, and was graduated 
in the summer of 1854. He was ordained by the Eight Eev. 
Horatio Potter, D. D., in the Church of the Ascension (Dr. Seabury), 
New York, on Sunday, the 17th of December, 1854, Dr. Seabury 
preaching the sermon. His first work was in founding a mission 
station at Annandale, in Dutchess county, New York, where he was 
efficiently engaged from January, 1855, until July, 1861. During 
this period, through Mr. Seymour's instrumentality and energy, the 
parish of Holy Innocents, with which he was connected, erected a 
beautiful stone church at a cost of some thirty thousand dollars. Just 
as the building was about ready for occupation, in December, 1859, 
it took fire from a defective flue, and was entirely destroyed except 
the walls. Mr. Seymour at once collected money and began the work 
of rebuilding it, and on the 2d of February, 1860, it was duly con- 
secrated. The entire cost of the building was subsequently assumed 

by John Bard, Esq., a wealthy resident of the vicinity, and the funds 

515 



RET. GEORGE F. SEYMOUR, D. D. 

originally collected were applied to the purchase of an organ and 
other church furniture. A school, designed for the education of 
young men preparing for holy orders, was established, in connection 
with the parish, which has since been incorporated under the title of 
St. Stephen's College. Mr. Bard has endowed it by the donation of 
property at Annandale valued at sixty thousand dollars. Mr. Sey- 
mour was the first warden of the institution. The following is an 
extract from his parochial report of 1861 : 

"When I went to Annandale in 1855, there were five communicants. The people 
of the neighborhood, belonging, for the most part, to the humbler classes, were 
strangers to our church, and strongly prejudiced against it. During the six years 
of my sojourn at Ajinandale, through God's blessing, great changes were wrought for 
the better. The face of things in the rural parish was made to wear a new aspect. 
Through the instrumentality of the parish school and other appliances, all looking 
to the one end, the winning of souls to Christ, the people became interested, and m 
large numbers offered themselves and their little ones to God. A beautiful stone 
church was built, burnt dowu, and rebuilt. An educational scheme, for preparing 
young men designed for holy orders to enter on their theological studies, was 
matured into St. Stephen's College, chartered by the State, with twelve students 
and two instructors. One of my last official acts was to remove the first shovelful 
of earth for the foundation of the buildings of St. Stephen's College." 

Dr. Seymour was ordained priest by Bishop Potter, in Zion 
Church, Greenburg, Westchester county, September 23d, 1855, Dr. 
John McVickar preaching the sermon. In November, 1861, he be- 
came rector of St. Mary's Church, Manhattanville. During 1862 he 
had four young men with him in course of preparation for the General 
Theological Seminary," to whom he devoted five hours each day. 
One of the largest classes ever presented in St Mary's parish was 
confirmed by the bishop at his visitation in June of the same year. 
Dr. Seymour accepted the rectorship of Christ Church, Hudson, in 
October, 1862, where he remained one year. During the year a 
commodious chapel was erected at a cost of about four thousand 
dollars. Dr. Seymour continued, in connection with his onerous 
parochial duties, the instruction of two of the young men before 
mentioned. In October, 1863, he assumed charge of St. John's 
Church, Brooklyn, having also a call to St Stephen's Church, Phila- 
delphia. St John's congregation at the time was much divided, but 
under Dr. Seymour's ministry became united and more numerous. 

He subsequently accepted his present position of Professor of Ec- 
clesiastical History in the Episcopal General Theological Seminary 
of New York. He was brought prominently before the Convention 

of the Diocese of Missouri, held at St. Louis, September 3d. 1868, 

516 



R E V. G E O R G E F. SEYMOUR, D. D.. 

as a candidate for bishop. He received a majority of the votes of 
both orders, clerical and lay, present in convention ; but the canon 
required a majority of all the parishes in the Diocese, and of all the 
clergy entitled to seats in Convention. He was five times chosen by 
the clergy, and was within three votes necessary to a choice by the 
laity on one ballot. 

Dr. Seymour preaches frequently. He has edited various church 
publications, and written several able pamphlets. 

He is under the medium height, of slender proportions, and 
altogether of a rather delicate organization. His face shows 
characteristics oi the highest order of intellect and of a gentle, 
elevated nature. He looks as the studious, thoughtful man, absorbed 
in mental labor, and applying all his energies of mind and bo ly to 
the attainment of higher cultivation and the profoundest conceptions 
of logic and truth. Further examination of his face will show that 
it is the index, also, to a heart, from youth up, singularly pure, 
manly, and inspired of Grod. Nature has written in her own tracings 
on his imposing brow — scholar; and the smile which lingers about 
his mouth has its source of Christian brightness in the sunshine of 
the virtuous heart. His boyhood and his manhood have been alike 
illustrated by the same traits of character, these being a love of well- 
doing and a desire for knowledge, and to these his as yet brief but 
brilliant life has been sacredly and wholly devoted. And as the rays 
of light, falling upon the flower, give it color and beauty, in like 
manner the glory of the expanding mind and the triumphs of the 
upright heart have left their lines of lustre and of goodness to speak 
to men in his veiy countenance. His attire declares his religious 
calling: and no one can look at him and for a moment doubt that he 
is most faithful and energetic in the work set for him to do. His 
manners are courteous, though somewhat dignified and retiring. His 
conversational powers are excellent, and his language always choice ; 
when the occasion will justify it, is scholarly in the extreme. His 
greatest pleasure is taken in intellectual society, and particularly 
with those who, like himself, explore the less familiar paths of wis- 
dom. "With keen perceptions of character, he unites a generous 
appreciation of merit and attachments the most sincere. 

Dr. Seymour's sermons are argumentative and forcibly written. 
He never seems to care for display, but is always seeking the incul- 
cation of some important rule of doctrine or of morals. His words 

are evidently heartfelt ; and where there is necessity for learned ex 

517 



REV. GEORGE F. SEYMOUR, D. D. 

planatiou, it is given with much thoroughness and entirely without 
ostentation. He is very animated, and at times gesticulates freely. 

Few clergymen have accomplished so much at an early period of 
life. When attending regularly to his parochial duties, he prepared 
fourteen young men for the theological seminary, and always had a 
class studying with the same view. He founded a parish, built a 
church, and has been rector in four parishes. He is esteemed by the 
learned and distinguished men of the Episcopal church as an earnest 
and accomplished co-laborer, and his associations with the lay masses, 
in all his fields of effort, have been of the happiest nature, and highly 
efficacious to the cause of religion. As a professor he has brought 
additional renown to the institution with which he is connected by 
his profound scholarship, and success in imparting instruction to 
those under his charge. 

518 



REV. WILLIAM G. T. SHEDD, D. D., 

PROFESSOB ITS" THE TJjVICMV THEOLOGICAL 
8EMINABY, IVJEW YORK!. 



• EV. DR WILLIAM G. T. SHEDD was bom at Acton, 
_J Massachusetts, June 21st, 1820. He was graduated at 
^KJj^M& *^ e University of Vermont in 1839, and at Andover 
\M*zf Theological Seminary in 1843. The following year he 
hP became pastor of the Congregational church at Brandon, Ver- 
<~ 3 mont, and in 1845 was appointed professor of English Literature 
in the University of Vermont. He accepted the chair of Sacred 
Rhetoric in Auburn Theological Seminary in 1852, but two years 
later went to Andover as professor of Church History. In 1862 
he was installed as associate pastor with Dr. Gardiner Spring at the 
Brick Presbyterian Church, Fifth avenue, New York, where he re- 
mained several years. He edited and published a translation of 
Theremin's "Rhetoric," New York, 1850, and an edition with an 
introductory essay, Andover, 1859 ; also an edition of Coleridge's 
works, with an introductory essay, seven volumes, New York, 1853, 
beside " Discourses and Essays," Andover, 1856 ; " Lectures upon 
the Philosophy of History," Andover, 1856 ; a translation of Guericke's 
" Church History," two volumes, Andover, 1857-63 ; and Augustine's 
" Confessions," with an introductory essay, 1860. He has preached 
as a temporary supply of several of the city pulpits. A number of 
years since he accepted his present position of professor of Biblical 
Literature in the Union Theological Seminary, New York. 

He is of the medium height, and has a thin, pale face. His brow 
is large and round, showing much intellectuality. All his move- 
ments are quick and nervous. He is a studious, learned, and deeply 
religious man. As a professor he has won distinction in the different 
institutions with which he has been connected, and his published 
writings are greatly valued for both scholarship and literary taste. 
His sermons are thoroughly practical, sound in doctrines, and logical 
in argument 519 



EEV. ROBERT SLOSS, 

PASTOR OF THE FOTJRTEEiVTH: STKEET 
PBESBYTERTAN CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




)EV. ROBERT SLOSS was born in the city of New 
York, November 23d, 1888. He prepared for college 
at Media, Pa., and entered Princeton College in 1861. 
Durina; the course he received the honor of Junior 
Orator, and delivered the second belles-lettres oration at com- 
mencement In the fall of 1865 he entered Princeton Theo- 
logical Seminary. About May 1st, 1867, he was commissioned 
by the Secretary of the General Association of New Hampshire, to 
labor during a few months' vacation in a Congregational church at 
Canaan, New Hampshire, which he did with unusual success. In 
September, 1867, he was appointed tutor of Rhetoric in College, in 
winch capacity he served to the end of his theological course. He 
became pastor of the Third Presbyterian church of Indianapolis, 
June 1st, 1868, where he remained until he came to the Fourteenth 
Street Presbyterian Church, New York, in June, 1872. 

During the great religious revival in New York, from 1830 to 
1835, a new Presbyterian church organization was made in the eastern 
section of the city. This was known as the Brainerd Church, and 
was organized February 9th, 1834, with sixteen members, and Rev. 
Dr. Asa D. Smith, then fresh from the Theological Seminary, but 
now President of Dartmouth College, was called to the pastorship. 
The first place of worship was an upper room at a noisy corner of 
Essex and Stanton streets, over a place of low traffic. " A lowly 
sanctuary it was," says Dr. Smith, in a. farewell sermon to his congre- 
gation ; "but I am sure that no sculptured column or vaulted roof, 
no enamel or tracery of finely arched windows, no long-drawn aisle, 
or lofty tower, or spire piercing the skies, would have added to the 
charm with which, as seen through the vista of departed years, 
memory invests it" 

520 



EEV. ROBERT SLOCS. 

A clrarch was erected iu Kivington street, at a cost of twenty 
thousand dollars, which, was dedicated on January 17th, 1836, and 
here the congregation worshiped until Sunday, May 11th, 1851. It 
was now found necessary to remove xo a situation up town. A union 
was effected with the Sixth street Church, and a new organization 
was formed May 18th, 1851, under the title of the Fourteenth street- 
Presbyterian Church, with a membership of two hundred and 
seventy-four, of whom one hundred and ninety-five were from the 
Brainerd Church, and seventy-nine from the Sixth street Church. A 
considerable portion of the members of the Brainerd Church, unable 
to remove, united with congregations near them. The old church 
was devoted to the gathering of a German congregation, a population 
which had become very numerous in the district. 

The corner-stone of a new edifice, to be erected on the corner of 
Fourteenth street and Second avenue, was laid July 22d, 1850, and 
the building was dedicated January 22d, 1851, the lecture-room hav- 
ing been occupied since the previous spring. The .cost of the whole 
property, including the church furniture, was about sixty thousand 
dollars. A moderate debt on it at first was soon extinguished. The 
congregation increased so rapidly that at one time the trustees had 
under serious consideration a plan for the enlargement of the accom- 
modations. In the twelve years and a half of Dr. Smith's ministry 
in Fourteenth street, 1,393 persons were admitted to the church, 627 
of them on profession of their faith. 

Dr. Smith preached his farewell sermon November 15th, 1863. 
The pulpit had tempoi*ary supplies until Mr. Hitchcock was installed 
in April 1866, who remained until early in the year 1872, and was 
succeeded by Mr. Sloss. 

The congregation has now about four hundred and fifty-nine 
members, and in the regular and mission Sunday Schools there are 
five hundred and fifty children. 

A well informed observer of Mr. Sloss and his career writes as 
follows : — " In the pulpit Mr. Sloss impresses you with the fact that 
he is deeply in earnest and fully alive to the magnitude cf the work 
in which he is engaged. His prayers are brief, pointed, fervent ; re- 
markably free from set forms of expression, comprising but few 
objects of desire, and these always appropriate to the time and the 
occasion, and usually referring to the subject of the coming discourse. 
His sermons give evidence of close study and careful preparation. 
Each discourse is complete in itself, contains but few divisions or 

521 



REV. ROBERT SLOSS. 

heads, and these are so logically arranged, clearly presented, and fully 
illustrated that the hearers are enabled, not only to understand, but 
also to remember them. 

" As a writer, his style is clear, concise, vigorous — his illustrations 
being employed rather to add clearness and strength than for orna- 
ment Possessing a thoroughly trained voice of remarkable flexibil- 
ity, power, and pathos, his elocution is characterized by great distinct- 
ness of enunciation and wonderful adaptedness of expression to the 
sentiments uttered. 

"Mr. Sloss preaches the gospel in its purity, and therein, doubt- 
less, is the chief element of bis success. Instead of wasting his 
energies in denunciation of this evil, that sin, or the other evil prac- 
tice ; or in commendation of this, that, or the other virtue, he pro- 
claims, with all earnestness, the great doctrines of repentance toward 
Grod, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ as the radical cure of all 
evil, and the grand incentive to all good." 

Mr. Sloss is rather under the medium height, with a large body, 
and possesses a vigorous physical constitution. His head is large, 
having an excellent intellectual development. His expression is 
serious, and his manners are composed and dignified. In the course 
of eleven months of his pastorate in Indianapolis seventy-nine per- 
sons were added to the church, fifty-eight of whom were on profession 
of faith. His ministry in New York is characterized by the same 
earnestness and fidelity to duty, and already gives evidence that it 
will be marked by like beneficial results to the church and society 

at large. 

& 522 



REV. JOHN COTTON SMITH, D.D., 

RECTOR OF THE CHURCH OF THE ASCENSION, 

NEW YORK. 




EY. DR. JOHN COTTON SMITH was born August 4th, 
1826, at Andover, Mass. His family was one of the 
most distinguished in the early history of New England, 
and his Christian name, besides being borne by the cele- 
brated John Cotton, of Boston, in England, and afterward 
of Boston, in Mass., was derived more strictly from his uncle., 
the late John Cotton Smith, Governor of Connecticut Dr. 
Smith's father was the late Thomas M. Smith, D. D., President of 
Kenyon College, and Professor of Theology in the Theological Sem- 
inary of the diocese of Ohio. His grandfather, on his mother's 
side, was the distinguished theologian, Leonard Woods, of Andover. 
He was the nephew also of the Leonard Woods, Jr., lately President 
of Bowdoin College. 

Dr. Smith was graduated, with the first honors of his class, at 
Bowdoin College in 1847, after a preparatory course at Phillips' 
Academy, Andover. His theological course was pursued at the 
Theological Seminary, Grambier, Ohio. He was ordained deacon, by 
Bishop Mcllvaine, of Ohio, in 1849, and priest, by Bishop Burgess, 
of Maine, in 1850. His first parish was that of St John's, Bangor, 
Maine. In 1852 he became assistant minister of Trinity Church, 
Boston. He was invited to this position upon what is called the 
Greene Foundation. This Foundation is an endowment held by a 
Board of Trustees, the whole income of which is to be devoted to 
the support of an assistant minister of Trinity Church, with certain 
specified duties. In 1859 Dr. Smith was called to the rectorship of 
the Church of the Ascension, New York, upon the duties of which 
he entered January 1st, 1860. He was preceded in this office by 
the late Bishop Eastburn, of Mass., and Bishop Bedell, the present 
Bishop of Ohio. 

During his rectorship in New York, Dr. Smith has devoted hirn- 

523 



EEV. JOHN COTTON SMITH, D. D. 

self veiy largely to the problem of Pauperism, especially in the city 
of his professional labors. Under his auspices the first successful 
attempt to establish Model Tenement Houses was made, and a block 
of such houses is now under the management of an association con- 
nected with his parish. In connection with such efforts he has been 
instrumental in establishing several mission chapels, with large en- 
dowments, and various agencies for the moral and temporal welfare 
of the poor. The scholars in the various schools under his charge 
number between two and three thousand. Ten candidates for the 
ministry are at present pursuing their studies under his direction, 
and are engaged in various departments of his missionary work. 
He has also four assistants in orders. 

Dr. Smith has written and published extensively upon religious, 
scientific, and literary su ejects. Among these publications are the 
following: " Charity of Truth,"' '' The Liturgy as a basis of Union," 
" The Church's Law of Development," " The Oxford Essays and 
Reviews," " The Homeric Age," " The Principle of Patriotism," 
" The United States a Nation," and one just now in press, entitled 
" Evolution and a Personal Creator." He is also the proprietor and 
editor-in-chief of the Church and State, to which his contributions 
are very numerous, and cover a wide variety of subjects. 

Dr. Smith is an officer in a large number of missionary, religious, 
charitable, and literary societies, and spends a very considerable 
amount of time in attendance upon committee meetings. The life of 
a parish clergyman in ISTew York renders necessary the performance 
of an immense amount of this kind of work, which is not strictly 
professional in its character. This fact enlarges, in one sense, the 
sphere of a pastor's influence, but almost inevitably withdraws him, 
to some extent, from labors more strictly appropriate to his office, 
and in which, if he were only permitted to do so, he might be even 
more usefully employed. 

The Church of the Ascension, of which Dr. Smith is the rector, 
is one of the wealthiest and most influential iu the country. Its con- 
tributions, during the rectorship of Dr. Smith — a period of about fif- 
teen years — have amounted to not far from a million of dollars. Some 
very important works have been carried on and entirely completed 
by the contributions of this church. Aspinwall Hall, at the Theo- 
logical Seminary at Alexandria, was erected by two of its members. 
Ascension Hall and the Church of the Holy Spirit, at Grambier, 
Ohio, both of them very beautiful buildings, were gifts from the 

524 



REV. JOHN COTTON SMITH, D.D. 

members of this parish. This is the case also with the Church of 
the Ascension at Ipswich, Mass., where Dr. Smith has a summei 
home, the building being one of the most attractive in that State. 
The charge of the church is assumed by Dr. Smith during his vaca- 
tion, and during the rest of the year it is under the care of one of his 
assistants. 

Besides his ordinary pulpit duties, Dr. Smith has been accus- 
tomed, in the Advent season of each year, to deliver a course of ser- 
mons on Sunday evenings, upon the relations to Christianity of pre- 
valent views upon scientific, literary, and social questions. These 
sermons have always been largely attended by a class of thinking 
men, not usually seen in churches. The course for Advent, 1874, is 
already announced. The subject is to be " The Problem of Pau- 
perism." 

Dr. Smith was of the number of the Episcopal clergy who fa- 
vored the assembling of the Church Congress of that denomination, 
which was held in New York in October, 1874. He read an able 
paper before it, on the subject of " The Limits of Legislation as to 
Doctrine and Ritual." 

Dr. Smith is in strong sympathy with the spirit of modern so- 
ciety, and labors to have that spirit recognized and consecrated by 
the Church. At the same time he is a strong adherent of the his- 
torical faith to which all ages bear witness, so that he is at once pro- 
gressive and conservative. While holding strong views of the claims 
of the church, of which he is a minister, and devotedly attached to 
its polity and worship, he is in deep sympathy with Christian life 
and work wherever found. He insists upon the necessity of main- 
taining the catholic and comprehensive character of the church, as a 
protest against certain tendencies, in it, to sectarianism. In carrying 
out this view he has frequently defended the ecclesiastical position 
of those with whose views he did not personally agree, so long as 
they could be regarded as at all within the limits of the comprehen- 
siveness of the church. In doctrine he is evangelical, in the sense 
of holding, with special emphasis, what are known as the Augus- 
tinian views of grace, and the Anselmian views of the atonement. He 
holds, however, higher views of the sacraments, and broader views 
of freedom in religious inquiry than have been customary among 
those who are called " evangelicals." His position, in short, is that 
of a catholicit}*-, having its roots in the Christian past, but growing 
more broadly and freely in the atmosphere of the present age. 

525 



REV. JOHN COTTON SMITH, D. D. 

As a preacher and writer, Dr. Smith is regarded as one of the 
strongest men of his denomination. There is nothing superficial or 
incomplete in his attainments, and, as a consequence, he is distin- 
guished at once for ability and influence in every branch of profes- 
sional effort His opinions are all sincere, and closely intermingled 
with his personal emotions, so that those who find it necessary to 
combat them, encounter in him an eager and vigilant opponent, 
while those who are in harmony with him, are constantly enlight- 
ened by his learning aud encouraged by his confidence. Capable of 
a large amount of mental and physical labor, and having an immense 
talent for executive direction, he performs far more than the usual 
tasks and occupations of an ordinary clergyman ; but, after all, they 
seem, with him, merely a congenial activity in the line of conscien- 
tious duty. In preaching he is dignified and impressive in his deliv- 
ery, and choice and powerful in the language which he employs. As 
a writer, in every field of discussion, he has the skill which belongs 
to the combination of natural gifts, wide erudition, and long ex- 
perience. 

In personal appearance Dr. Smith is of the medium height, erect, 

and dignified, and wears the clerical costume. His head is large, 

with refined features, and a strikingly intellectual development. 

While there is a natural reserve in both his manners and speech, he 

shows true warmth of feeling and congeniality in social companion- « 

ship. A close student and a deep thinker, he is thoroughly scholarly 

in his tastes, but he is not less a practical worker in the active 

spheres of duty. Giving to the church and to literature the impress 

of his talents and labors, he is widely esteemed and beloved in the 

private relations of life. 

526 



REV. J. HYATT SMITH. 



PASTOR OF THE EEE AVENUE BAPTIST 
CHUBCH, BROOKLYN. 




|EV. J. HYATT SMITH was born in the State of New 
York, but removed early to Detroit, Michigan. He was 
licensed as a Baptist minister in 1848 in Albany, 1ST. Y. 
After serving a pastorship in Poughkeepsie, he accepted a 
to the Euclid Street Baptist Church, Cleveland, Ohio. In 
^g three years and a half he raised the membership from twelve to 
three hundred and fifty. He then went to the Washington Street 
Church, Buffalo, one of the largest of the denomination, where he 
remained five years. Here he also ministered with great success, and 
hundreds were brought into the church. The next seven years were 
spent as the pastor of the Eleventh Baptist Church, Philadelphia. 
He was then called to his present position as pastor of the Lee Avenue 
Baptist Church, in the Eastern District of Brooklyn. 

He is likewise an author, editor, and lecturer. His most noted 
work is entitled " The Open Door," in which he discusses his own 
peculiar views as a Baptist. He holds that there is no true baptism 
but immersion on profession of faith, and none but believers so 
baptized can become members of a Baptist church ; while there is 
nothing to show that baptism must precede the Lord's Supper, and, 
therefore, that believers, whether baptized or not, may join with him 
and he with them in the ordinance. The attitude thus taken in favor 
of open communion has caused him to be widely commented upon 
both in and out of his denomination ; but he has maintained his 
views with much ability in the pulpit and in published writings. In 
the meantime a very great religious interest has been shown in his 
church, and, as in his other pastorships, many have been converted. 
The church doubled in membership within a few months. On several 

527 



REV. J. HYATT SMITH. 

occasions Mr. Smith has preached to an audience entirely of young 
men — some fifteen hundred in number. 

Mr. Smith is erect, and well-proportioned, with a head and face 
of considerable intellectuality. You see at once that he is a thinker, 
not less than a worker in whatever may interest him. He is a man 
who always feels deeply ; but he acts calmly, and with a decision and 
plans that are seldom changed. Of a strong religious nature, he is 
unswerving in the consistent practice of the duties which his faith 
and profession impose upon him ; but on the other hand he will ac- 
cept not one word or doctrine which his own scholarship does not 
sustain. Hence we find him an actual reformer in his denomination, 
doing battle valiantly for the truth as he understands it. In preach- 
ing he is always full of his theme, and he speaks fervently and uuder- 
standingly. His record as a minister is brilliant in the extreme, and 
he seems on the threshold of a career which will make still larger 
demands upon his scholarly and ministerial talents. 

528 



REV. WILLIAM A. SNIVEL!, A. M., 

SECTOR Oir GRACE (EFIHCOPAL) CHURCH, 
BROOKLYN. 




iEV. WILLIAM A. SNIVELY, A. M., was born in fcrank- 
lin county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1833. He was 
graduated at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 
in 1852, and he concluded a theological course at the 
same institution in 1855. During the latter period he also dis- 
22 charged the duties of tutor. In 1855, at the close of his stud- 
ies, he entered the Methodist ministry as a member of the Baltimore 
Conference, and soon became distinguished for the earnestness and 
success of his labors. For nine years he was appointed to the lead- 
ing churches in Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Pittsburg. 

Circumstances, more than inclination, had led him into the 
ministry of the Methodist church, and he now determined to enter 
the Episcopal denomination and ministry, as best suited to his views 
and desires. Accordingly, in 1865, he was made a deacon in St. 
Peter's Church, Philadelphia, by Bishop William B. Stevens, and 
later in the same year, he was admitted to the priesthood by the 
same bishop. He was first the rector of St. Andrew's Church, Pitts- 
burg, and, in 1867, accepted a call to Christ Church, Cincinnati, 
where he remained three years. In 1870 he went to St. Peters, 
Albany, as the successor of the Kev. Dr. William C. Doane, who 
had been elected bishop of that diocese. His next call was to his 
present rectorship, at Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights, where he 
succeeded the Eev. Dr. Benjamin H Paddock, who, in the previous 
year, had been elected bishop of the diocese of Massachusetts. "It 
is somewhat singular that in two instances, Mr. Snively has suc- 
ceeded rectors who have been elected bishops. He was installed as 
the rector of Grace Church on Sunday, May 24th, 1874, on which 
occasion a sermon was preached by Bishop Littlejohn, of the diocese 
of Lone- Island. 

Mr. Snively received the degree of A. B. in 1852, and A. M. in 

529 



EEV. WILLIAM A. SNIVELY, A. M. 

1855, both from his Alma Mater. In 1871 he was a delegate to the 
General Episcopal Convention, held at Baltimore, from the diocese of 
Albany. 

Grace Church is a large and wealthy parish. The late distin- 
guished Rev. Dr. Francis L. Vinton, at his death in 1872, one of 
the assistant ministers of Trinity parish, New York, became the first 
rector in 1847. He was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. E. A. Hoffman 
in 1864, who remained several years, and was followed by the Rev 
Dr. Paddock, who remained from May, 1869, until 1873. A spa- 
cious and tasteful stone church was erected, soon after the organiza- 
tion of the parish, on Hicks street, Brooklyn Heights, the whole 
property costing over seventy-five thousand dollars. There are 
between four and five hundred communicants, and about two hun- 
dred families. The Sunday School has about two hundred children. 
A parish day school is maintained Iu 1865 a new school home, 
adjoining the church, was erected at a cost of twelve thousand 
dollars. The congregation is noted in the diocese for its liberal 
contributions for all religious and benevolent purposes. The offer- 
ings for parochial purposes, during a single year, were about twenty- 
one thousand dollars, and for diocesan purposes, over eight thousand 
making in all over twenty-nine thousand dollars. In 1872 still larger 
offerings were made, amounting to over fifty-one thousand dollars. 

Mr. Snively is of the average height, very erect, and walks with 
the solid tread of a man in the full vigor of health and activity. 
His head is large, his face handsome, with regular features, and fine 
expressive eyes. His face is calm and amiable, but it shows that 
decision, resolution, and energy are prominent characteristics of the 
individual. Frank, gentle, and trusting in all the mere personal 
qualifications, he is equally by nature bold, firm, and energetic in 
his labors and deeds. As you look at him — erect, noble, and un- 
flinching — you see that he is one who loves, and is beloved, and 
also one who is powerful in antagonism, and omnipotent in effort 
You see strength of the physical, of the mental, and of the moral ; 
and you see, likewise, tenderness, goodness, and simplicity, as strong 
parts of the same nature. 

He is an eloquent and convincing preacher. Emphatic in his 
mode of expression, he is learned in argument, devout in manner, 
and impassioned in utterance. He commands the attention of the 
hearer throughout, and at the close, leaves the mind employed with 
profitable thoughts, and the heart moved by penitential emotions. 

530 



RIGHT REV. BISHOP HORATIO SOUTHGATE, D. D., 

LATE RECTOR OF ZfON EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 

new Yortit. 




EV. DK. HOEATIO SOUTHGATE was born in the city 
of Portland, Me. He was graduated at Bowdoin College 
in 1832, and at Andover in 1835. Though brought up a 
strict Congregational is t, he became an Episcopalian while 
^ip pursuing his theological studies at the latter institution. He 
was ordained deacon in 1835, and priest in 1839. During 1836 
he went abroad, and traveled extensively in Turkey and Persia, 
Eeturning to the United States, he was consecrated in Philadelphia, 
Oct. 26th, 1844, missionary bishop to reside at Constantinople, and 
again took his departure for the East. This mission was primarily 
to send a delegate charged with messages of good will to the Oriental 
churches. After several years spent in the discharge of the duties 
of his mission and in travel, Dr. Southgate returned to the United 
States in 1849. He then founded the parish of St. Luke, in Portland, 
where he remained about a year ; in 1852 went to the church of the 
Advent, Boston ; and in 1859 was called to Zion Church, New York. 
He resigned this parish in 1872, after the efficient labors of thirteen 
years. Zion Church was formerly in Mott street, and the congrega- 
tion at an early period was Lutheran, but, by a change in the relig- 
ious views of both pastor and people, became an Episcopal church in 
1810. In 1854 a very- fine edifice was erected on the corner of 
Madison avenue and Thirty-eighth street, which is the crown of 
Murray Hill. Dr. Southgate received the degree of doctor of divinity 
from Columbia College, in 1846. He has published the following 
works : " Tours through Armenia, Kurdistan, Persia, and Messopo- 
tarnia," two volumes, in 1840; "Visit to the Syrian Church of 
Messopotamia," one volume, in 1844; "Parochial Sermons," one 
volume, and " War in the East," one volume, in 1856. He has like- 
wise published various occasional sermons, and contributed largely 
to the religious reviews and journals. He speaks the Turkish, Ger- 

531 



BISHOP HORATIO SOUTHGATE, D. D. 

man, Italian, and French languages. The volume entitled " War iD 
the East." is a masterly review of the questions involved in the 
Russian and Turkish war, defensive of the position of the former 
power. It was extensively circulated both in this country and 
Europe, and quoted in Parliament, by Earl Grey, as unanswerable. 

Dr. Southgate is under the medium height, rather thick set and 
large boned. His head is large, with a square face and prominent 
features. His eyes are bright, quick', and penetrating, and at the 
same time like his whole expression, gentle aud kindly. He is the 
exact impersonation of the honest, true-hearted, fair dealing-man. 
There is no circumlocution, no scheming, and no policy about him. 
His impulses are as surely and instantly toward honesty, truth, and 
justice, as the direction of the magnetic needle. This fact speaks 
out from every line of his countenance, and is breathed in every 
sentiment that he utters. His perceptions of character are the keen- 
est, but he turns to every man — be he saint or sinner, of spotless 
virtue or black with crime — the front of an honest face and a just 
nature. He is genial, cheerful, and has a happy power of communi- 
cating his own natural buoyancy of spirits to others. In the sick 
chamber, in the house of mourning, with the anxious inquirer, he 
exercises, in an eminent degree, that holy influence which merges 
grief and desolation into submission and faith. 

Dr. Southgate is a hard worker in every sphere of duty. His 
reliance on a favoring Providence is complete, and he keeps onward 
when others check their steps in despair. No better qualified man 
could have been sent as a representative to the Oriental churches. 
He did not go to display the prejudices of sectarianism, but as an 
ambassador of good-will to all the Christian sects of the East. And 
thus, with the simple credentials of a Christian man, though a con- 
secrated bishop, he mingled in beneficial fellowship with Syrian, 
Eomish, Greek, and Protestant. He was a Christian friend from 
afar, full of brotherly love, earnest in the common cause of Chris- 
tianity, and, personally, a genial, noble-hearted gentlemen. Hence 
we find him, in 1841, while on a visit to the Syrian patriarch, at his 
monastery on the confines of Messopotamia, solicited to afford assis- 
tance in a controversy regarding certain church property then pend- 
ing at Constantinople before the Porte. His mission was everywhere 
appreciated, and without for a moment exciting prejudice or sus- 
picion, he strengthened the bonds of the true Christianity, which is 
universal brotherhood. 532 



EEV. SAMUEL T. SPEAR, D.D., 

OWE OF THE EDITORS OF THE IjNTI>EI»E:N"- 
DENT, SJEW YOK.IC. 




EY. DR SAMUEL T. SPEAR was born at Ballston 
Spa, New York, March 4th, 1812. He was graduated as 
a doctor of medicine at the College of Physicians and 
Surgeons, ISTew York, and studied theology with Rev. 
Dr. Bernan, of Troy. He was ordained as a Presbyterian min- 
«23 ister in 1835, and settled during the same year as pastor of 
the Second Presbyterian Church, Lansingburg. In 1813 he accepted 
a call to the South Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, where he re- 
mained about twenty-seven years. During the time he declined a 
call to one of the leading Presbyterian churches of Albany ; but 
recently accepted an invitation to become one of the editors of the 
Independent, a well known religious paper of New York. He had 
been a constant contributor to the paper, from its commencement. 
All his writings are thoughtful and valuable. His degree of D. D. 
was conferred by Union College, Schenectady. 

He has published a bound volume, entitled " Family Power," 
and the following sermons : " The Drunkard's Appetite," " Law and 
Temperance," "Politico-social Foundations," "Law-abiding and 
Higher-law Conscience," ''Conquest of the World by Faith," "The 
Law of Grace," " Christ in the Believer," " Religious Conversation," 
" The Future of Christianity," " Radicalism and the National Crisis," 
" The Future Life Suggested," " The Wonder of Man's Constitution," 
" Obedience to Civil Authority," " Constitutional Government 
Against Treason," "The Retributive Power of Memory," "The 
Divine Incarnation," "Man Mortal and Transient," "The Nation's 
Blessing in Trial," "The Duty of the Hour," " Christian Democracy," 
and "Preaching the Gospel." He is the author of the following re- 
views and essays, which have appeared in the Biblical Repository ; 
" Review of Edwards on Liberty and Necessity," " Review of Bush 

on the Resurrection," "Review of Cheeseman's Differences," "The 

533 



REV. SAMUEL T. SPEAR, D. D. 

Kejection of Christ by the Jews," "The Death of Christ," "The 
Atonement and Penalty of the Law." 

Dr. Spear is under the medium height, having a small but com- 
pact frame. He is an old-fashioned looking person, whose clothes 
never seem to fit him. He walks with a firm, deliberate step, carry- 
ing his head erect, and has a bland expression of face. His head is 
of the round apple-like kind, but his brow is finely developed, and 
he has bright, speaking eyes. While he is courteous in his manners 
and affable in conversation, still there is a measure of reserve about 
him. He never for a moment lays aside his clerical character, and 
in all his social life exhibits much seriousness and reflection. No 
one can doubt his eminent piety, his earnest desire to be practically 
useful in his sphere, and his conscientiousness of word and deed. Al« 
ways calm, thoughtful, and wise, he is a safe guide to all who seek 
his counsel, and he is ever found changeless in principle and faithful 
to duty. His mind is deeply philosophical. He is a reader of large 
research, and altogether a most laborious student. He abominates 
superficiality in anything, and hence his own investigations are of 
the most thorough nature. In his writings, so careful and precise is 
he, that he sometimes grows tedious, and he is always thus in his 
sermons to those who delight in imagination and declamation. He 
writes and speaks with occcasional bursts of emotion, but he is 
mostly argumentative and unimpassioned. Doctrinal subjects, and 
themes requiring the wider scope of reasoning, are favorites with 
him. His student hours are passed in much seclusion, and with en- 
tire abandonment of mind to the matter under investigation. His 
process of thought is slow, and from this fact probably the more 
logical. 

Dr. Spear is not, however, a man to move the masses as a preacher. 
In the course of long years he trains a congregation to his own way 
and mode of thinking, and he draws about him circles of methodical 
reasoners like himself, but he never reaches the popular heart. He 
is too cold, too logically dry, and too philosophically tedious, to 
touch the chords of sympathetic feeling, and at the same time all of 
these aid him in establishing the most positive conviction with the 
cold, logical, and philosophical few. With those who are attached 
to his style of thought, his sermons are regarded as the consumma,' 
tion of brilliant scholarship and mental power. 

534 





(HitHH z/} 



i^r> 




REY. GARDINER SPRING, D.D.,LL.D., 

PASTOR OF BRICK PEESBYTERIAN CHTJKCH, 
FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. 




)EV. DR GARDINER SPRING bas been tbe pastor 
of tbe Brick Presbyterian Church, New York, for tbe long 
period of sixty-three years. The time for active service 
with him bas now passed ; but he still retains his cher- 
ished pastoral relations with his people, having an assistant 
Dr. Spring is the only son of Rev. Dr. Samuel Spring, who 
was a chaplain in the American army during the Revolution, and a 
theologian of great influence and weight of character. He graduated 
at Yale College in 1805, and subsequently commenced tbe study of 
the law. He next went to the island of Bermuda, as a teacher, 
where he remained nearly two years, continuing his legal studies, 
however. After bis return he was admitted to tbe bar, and prac- 
ticed more than a year. His attention bad been long turned to reli- 
gious subjects, and be now began to prepare himself for the ministry. 
He studied about eight months at Andover Seminary. On the 10th 
of August, 1810, be was ordained pastor of the Brick Church, and 
has remained such up to the present time. 

The Brick Church formerly occupied the triangular lot of ground 
bounded by Nassau and Beekman streets and Park Row, now the site 
of the Times and other buildings. This lot was obtained from tbe 
corporation by the Wall street Presbyterian Congregation — the first 
organization of the sect in New York — and a church erected upon 
it, which was dedicated in January, 1768. During the Revolution 
the building was used by the British as a prison and hospital for 
prisoners of war. The church was re-opened in June, 1784. Various 
other leading Presbyterian Congregations of the city grew out of the 
First and Brick Churches. At a later period a separation of these 
churches was effected by mutual consent. 

Tbe property was sold by the congregation after long occupancy 

for a large sum, and a purchase made of lots on the corner of Fifth 

635 



REV. GARDINER SPRING, D. D., LL. D. 

avenue and 37th street, where one of the most magnificent and spa- 
cious church edifices of the citj was erected. The congregation is 
large and very wealthy. Eev. Dr. J. 0. Murray is the assistant 
minister. 

Dr. Spring has successively declined the presidency of Hamilton 
and Dartmouth Colleges. Among his public books may be men- 
tioned "Memoirs of Eev. J. Mills," "Memoirs of Hannah L. Mur- 
ray," " The Mercy Seat," " First Things," " The Glory of Christ," 
"Contrast between Good and Bad Men," collections of his sermons, 
etc., etc. 

Dr. Spring is tall and broad-shouldered, and even in his old age 
is perfectly erect. He is now feeble, and his sight is much im- 
paired, but his presence is commanding and dignified to the highest' 
degree. He has a large, intellectual head, and a most benevolent 
countenance. His manners have always had the characteristics of a 
high-toned polish and courtliness combined with marked geniality 
and the utmost gentleness. 

We wrote the following description of Dr. Spring at the period 
when he was approaching the close of his active ministry: 

" But observe : a tall, broad-shouldered old man enters the pulpit. 
He is feeble, and his sight is impaired ; but he stands erect and tower- 
ing in stature. His face is kind in its expression, and his bold brow 
is the throne of intellect. In prayer his eyes are closed, his head 
elevated, and in the strength of his feelings he raises yet more his tall 
form, and lifts his hands on high, as if he would lay hold of God's 
throne then and there. With his people he stands a saint before 
them ; these old men he baptized, these women he married, and to-day 
he performs the same offices for new generations. As he speaks in 
tones earnest but mellow, every feeling of the worshipers sink away 
into the devotion to which his language invites them. The world 
without, and even the memory of the music, which a few moments 
before was floating so impressively, each and all have faded into 
visions painted in prayer. Age is surely doing its work with the pas- 
tor. The light of day is growing into dimness, the step is becoming 
more and more feeble ; and yet, this little span of remaining life, this 
tottering man is the \ ery footstool of God, where age and youth, 
where beauty and deformity approach with their offerings of faith. 
When this span shall have been completed — when he falls, overcome 
by the weight of years, there will be no voice like his forever. 

536 






REV. GARDINER SPRING, D. D., LL. D. 

" Dr. Spring is a learned man, and a rare expounder of the Scrip- 
tures. The arrangement of his sermons is logical in the extreme, 
and belonging, as he does, to the old order of preachers, they are 
generally Of a doctrinal character. His language is well chosen, vig- 
orous, and at times glowing and eloquent. His magnificent physical 
proportions give great effect to his utterances, accompanied as they 
are by well-studied gestures. He is of the old school branch of his 
church, and the opponent of all heresies, as well as any deviation in 
whatsoever form from the ancient doctrines and practices of the 
Presbyterian Church. In regard to doctrine, he does not think that 
there is any argument at all for the other champions. The only 
reason why he doubts the efficiency of intelligence is that it does not 
make all men Presbyterians ; but if any person is disposed to raise 
issues with him, his eye kindles, he warms up, and affords an 
amount of logical lore which may well embarrass the most learned. 

"He is a close student of human nature, and from this fact has 
come much of his success in the ministry. He measures the mind, 
gauges the temperament, and weighs the character of all with whom 
he comes in contact, and successfully uses a happy adaptability to 
persons and circumstances which he can readily exercise. He is 
not the same man to the old that he is to the young, nor is he as 
stern and fixed with the merely giddy as he is with the unmistakably 
bad. But in all his moods, he seeks to gain control of the mind of 
the individual, and he is well aware that the means of so doing 
must be adapted to the case; hence, those who resist his influence 
are eventually drawn by it, and by a means so adroit that resistance 
changes unconsciously into submission. 

"iiisiug at the close of his sermon to a loftier flight of eloquence,, 
speaking in the tones of persuasion, and under the solemn obliga- 
tions of duty, his voice grows louder and richer, and seems to many 
before him truly the flickering candle burning up brighter before it 
shall go out at last Every eye is riveted upon him ; every ear 
intently listens ; every heart is moved with love. Grandly, thril- 
lingly he glides from sentence to sentence, and when he ceases there 
is a -stillness everywhere save in the hearts of his hearers, where his 
words are sweeping like music from above. 

" The grand organ swells again, and the choral strains join in the 
sacred harmony, and then comes the touching blessing of the gray- 
haired shepherd. The elders — so prim, so genteel, so distinguished 

— take their hats, the silks rustle once more, the aisles overflow, 

537 



REV. GARDINER SPRING, D. D., LL. D. 

friends nod, and the concourse of favored Christians descend to 
their carriages, or slowly pace their way to their palatial homes. 
Last of the throng leaving the church, notice the pastor; he is still 
erect in carriage, his face is uplifted, and about it play the smiles of 
a peaceful soul within. 

"The sum of the usefulness of this eminent and godly man can 
only be calculated when the Master shall take the final account 
But among his fellow-men, his long life is esteemed a brilliant 
example for all seeking honor here and rest hereafter." 

538 



REV. RICHARD S. STORRS, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THIE CHURCH OF THE PILGRIMS, 

BROOKLYN. 




)EV. DR. RICHARD S. STORRS, was born at Braintree, 
Massachusetts, August 21st, 1821. He was graduated 
at Amherst College in 1839, and completed his studies 
at Andover Theological Seminary in 1845. At the 
outset of his career he gave brilliant promise of his future 
greatness. His mind, and indeed his whole character, were of a 
stamp which proved him to be a man who was to make his mark in 
the intellectual world. In 1845 he accepted a call to the Harvard 
Congregational Church at Brookline, Massachusetts, but in the year 
following was called to the Church of the Pilgrims, Brooklyn, New 
York. 

This church was the pioneer of the Congregational churches of 
Brooklyn. The natives of New England, who sought that place in 
such large numbers, brought Congregationalism with them, and soon 
gave complexion to the moral and religious character of the beauti- 
ful city in which they took up their residence. The first evidence 
of their religious zeal was the erection on the Heights of an impos- 
ing stone church edifice, exceeding at the time every other structure 
of the kind in Brooklyn. 

In the front wall of the Church may be seen a piece of the verit- 
able Plymouth Rock. 

Dr. Storrs was called, and the New Englanders found not only an 
altar affording their own popular form of worship, but a pastor of 
the most commanding talents. He drew about him a large, wealthy, 
and intelligent congregation, and has now been their accepted pastor 
for twenty-seven years. 

A few years since the interior of the Church was magnificently 
improved, making it a rare specimen of artistic taste and beauty 
Dr. Storrs has recentlv returned from an extensive tour in Europe 

539 



REV. RICHARD S. STORRS, D. D. 

His congregation extended to him a public reception, which was 
marked by great warmth of feeling. 

Dr. Storrs is not without reputation in the walks of literature. 
When the Independent was started, in 1848, he became one of the 
associate editors, and his articles were characterized by a polish of 
diction and comprehensiveness of expression which are peculiarities 
of his style. He has also published a number of sermons, orations, 
and addresses, a very elaborate report of the revision of the English 
version of the Bible, undertaken by the American Bible Society, and 
a volume of " Graham's Lectures on the Wisdom, Power, and Good- 
ness of God, as Manifested in the Constitution of the Human Soul," 
etc., etc. 

His mind is one of large comprehension, and his studies are dili- 
gent, so that he becomes a thorough master of every subject with 
which he deals. He writes with evident care, and in the well-select- 
ed terms of a highly cultivated literary tas e. He has been success- 
ful as an editor, and discusses the occurring religious and secular 
topics with readiness and skill. In his sermons he is scholarly and 
eloquent. As compositions they are replete witb merit, and many of 
them should be classed as magnificent orations. The historical and 
other facts are introduced in a most pleasing and interesting form, 
and where he indulges in fancy it is not only truly poetic, but both 
original and sensible. 

Dr. Storrs has always taken a great interest in the educational 
movements of Brooklyn. He took an active part in the establish- 
ment and success of the Brooklyn Female Academy, now the 
Packer Institute, and in the school established by the late Rev. 
Dr. Alonzo Gray on the Heights. 

As a preacher Dr. Storrs has some striking peculiarities. Of 
late most of his sermons are extemporaneously delivered, though 
the preparation is always studious and thorough. His appearance is 
most dignified and solemn, and his delivery is slow, emphatic, and 
impressive. In every attitude and in every tone, he is the imperso- 
nation of not only the man of intellectual power, but the man of 
God. He rivets the eye and he appeals to the sensibilities in the 
same instant The magnetic influence which goes out from the 
great intelligence, and the pure character of one man to the minds 
and hearts of other men, is instantly felt by those who come into the 
presence of this admired preacher. His voice is strong but beauti- 
fully modulated, and highly sensitive to the emotions. Decided and 

540 



KEV. RICHARD S. STORRS, D. D. 

emphatic in all utterances of fact and opinion, showing a most 
thorough, scholarship in both theology and literature, these sermons 
are also most touching expressions of Christian sentiment. If the 
hearer desires to listen to the most polished diction, to original and 
great thoughts of a scholarly as well as practical mind he will be fully 
gratified ; but in no case, should he be seeking the way of eternal 
life, will he fail to be told the path to it Thus, while scholarship 
and oratory are attractive features of the ministrations of Dr. Storrs, 
it is all made subservient to his greater aim of the regeneration of his 
fellow-men. While vou shall go away from the service pleased and 
instructed, you will likewise feel stronger in virtue and in faith, for 
the temptations and sorrows of the world. 

Dr. Storrs is of large, tall, stately person, and in the prime and vigor 
of manhood. His complexion is light, and he has brown hair. 
There is a resolute expression about his mouth, and his glance, 
though mild, is very searching. Still, his face is very interesting 
from its characteristics of intelligence and goodness. In all inter- 
course he is dignified, and studiously polite. His disposition, man- 
ners, and habits, have all been formed and schooled in the inflexible 
purpose, the stern dignity, and the rigid method of Puritanism. The 
forefathers of New England are his models of all excellence, as well 
in personal deportment as in morals and religious sentiment Look- 
ing at individual character in this land, and in the many he has 
visited, he seems to turn with satisfaction to the Puritan type as the 
one best sustaining the true nobility in man's nature. 

Without belonging exactly to the sensational preachers of the 
day, Dr. Storrs by no means keeps aloof from the agitation of secular 
topics in the pulpit. As a war man, an abolitionist and emancipa- 
tionist, and a moral reformer, he has been among the boldest, ablest, 
and most earnest With the zeal and resolution in upholding what 
he believes to be the right inborn to him from his ancestry, he is a 
champion who generally bears the banner of victory. 

His varied learning eminently fits him for all the departments in 
which he energetically exerts himself As a clergyman, scholar, 
teacher, and citizen, he has secured an exalted reputation, which is 
increased by his successful labors in eveiy new field of duty. A 
representative of the most advanced culture of the American pulpit 
he is equally an example of the stern and higher virtues, which are 
at once the strength and safety of society. 

541 



REV. THOMAS STREET, A. M., 

LITE PASTOR OF THE NORTH PRESBYTE- 
RIAN CHURCH. 




)EV. THOMAS STREET was born in Philadelphia, May 
8th, 1823. He pursued his academic and theological 
studies at the Pennington Seminary, at Pennington, New 
Jersey, a Methodist institution, leaving in 1845. He was 
licensed in the same year by the New Jersey Conference. 
l^Cg In 1846 he was stationed at Winslow, New Jersey : 1847 at 
Princeton ; and in 184S he was transferred to the New England 
Conference, passing 1848-49 at Danvers, Massachusetts, and 1850-51 
in Boston. Having become Secretary of the American Sunday School 
Union, in 1852, he united with the Presbyterian Church, and joined 
the Presbytery of Columbia, New York. He remained in the Sun- 
day School work until 1855, and then accepted a call to the Green 
Hill Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, in connection with the Third 
Presbytery of Philadelphia, where he remained until 1860. After 
this he went to the Presbyterian church at Harrisburg, and then 
to another at York, where he continued until he accepted the charge 
of the North Presbyterian Church, New York, in association with 
the Third Presbytery of New York, where he commenced his labors 
May 1st, 1864. 

Mr. Street labored acceptably in this field until May 1st, 1873, a 
period of nine years. Through his personal efforts a debt of thirty 
thousand dollars on the church was paid off. He next accepted a 
call to the Presbyterian Church of Cortland, New York, where he 
is now engaged in a most popular and efficient ministry. 

He received the degree of A. M. from Princeton College in 1857. 
It may be mentioned that Mr. Street has considerable talent in 
painting, as is shown by many fine specimens of his work, which 
adorn the walls of his dwelling. 

542 



REV. THOMAS STREET, A. M. 



Mr. Street is of the average height, equal proportions, and in 
his firm, quick step shows an active, vigorous manhood. He has 
a round head, and regular features. His face has considerable re- 
flectiveness about it, and not a little amiability, and it has also the 
tokens of a great deal of penetration and firmness. He is a very 
courteous, genial man, and one of great aptness in suiting himself to 
the persons and circumstances in which he may be placed. At the 
first glance he seems a rather passive sort of person, who would float 
along in opinion and action with other men from the sheer spirit 
of accommodation and good nature ; but he is not in this respect 
exactly what he appears. He is really a man of a large amount of 
force of character, and, however far amiability may carry him, you 
at length find that he is neither to be molded nor led. He has a 
calm, reasonable, generous spirit, but he is not less conscientious and 
resolute. The truest specimen of a gentleman, he is likewise the 
best example'of the man. Modest in his bearing, unobtrusive in 
his opinions, gentle and considerate in his expressions in the first 
relation, he exhibits the clearest sense of all the requirements which 
belong to the other. Uprightness, firmness in duty, and boldness, 
especially for virtue, truth, and the gospel he preaches, are character- 
istics which underlie and overrule his whole being. The strong 
points of his character do not appear so quickly and so prominently 
as in some men, but those we have mentioned could not be more fixed 
and dominant in any one. 

Mr. Street makes no display in his preaching, but succeeds in 
commanding very close attention. Without being a terse writer, 
he is a forcible thinker, and expresses himself in language of like 
character. The subject is always discussed with animation, and 
there can be no doubt of his own interest and sincerity. His 
training in the Methodist pulpit is still apparent. He is very emo- 
tional, and his most powerful passages are where he addresses his 
appeal more directly to the heart. The cold, formal public speaker 
may reach the understanding, but he who would reach the feelings 
must first feel himself. And herein Mr. Street is never lacking. 
Human sympathies and Christian tenderness enter largely into his 
own nature, and his heart is ever tenderly inclined to others. He 
has an agreeable, mellow-toned voice, well suited for the pathos in 
which he indulges. 

543 



REV. PETER STRIKER, D. D., 

LATE PASTOR OF THIRTT-FOURTII STREEET 
REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH, NEW 5TORK. 




)EV. DR PETER STRYKER was born at Fairfield, New 
Jersey, April 8th, 1826. He is the son of the Rev. Her- 
man B. Stryker, who, even at the advanced age of seven- 
ty-three, was active and efficient in the pastorship of the 
Huguenot Reformed (Dutch) Church on Staten Island. His 
^ grandfather, the Rev. Peter Stryker (after whom he is named), 
was for many years pastor of the Reformed Church of Belleville, 
N. J., died in 1847, at the advanced age of eighty -three years. The 
Stryker family came originally from Holland. The name is prop- 
erly Strijcker, which means a smoother, or stroker, referring to the 
striking off of measures of wheat, etc. It is a very common name 
in the old country. A most popular preacher, now in Rotterdam 
has this name. In Motley's History of the "Dutch Republic," it is 
stated that in 1562, Herman Stryker, a converted monk, was one of 
the most popular preachers in the Reformed Church of Holland. 

Dr. Stryker entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1841, and 
passed two years there. Subsequently he entered Rutgers College, 
New Brunswick, where he was graduated in 1845, and took his theo- 
logical course at the Seminary of the Reformed Dutch Church at 
the same place, where he was graduated in 1848. He was ordained 
and installed pastor of the Third Reformed Dutch Church atRaritan, 
New Jersey, October 18th, 1848. Three years later, in the autumn of 
1851, he accepted a call to the Reformed Dutch Church at Rhine- 
beck, Dutchess county, New York, one of the most influential 
churches of the denomination. Having accepted a call to the Re- 
formed Dutch Church on the corner of Broome and Greene streets, 
New York, he entered upon his duties in May, 1856. and was in- 
stalled on the 1st of June following. 

This congregation grew out of a missionary enterprise of the Re- 
formed Dutch denomination, organized January 9th, 1822. It was the 

544 



■ :. ; :'--^- v: >;-;7/v: 





7tCc-f -^~€<^/ ^ 




1 



REV. PETER STRYEER, D. D. 

desire of the society to establish preaching near the corner of Canal 
street and Broadway, "a part of the city then growing rapidly," but 
no suitable room could be procured, and the locality was changed 
to the junction of Howard and Elm streets, where a room was ob- 
tained. Eev. Robert McLean was the first missionary. The enter- 
prise prospered, and arrangements were made to build a church 
edifice on a site corner of Broome and Greene streets. The corner- 
stone was laid in June, 1823. In the month of October following, 
service was commenced in the basement. On February 8th, 1824, 
the church was dedicated, and in a few years had one of the largest 
and most influential congregations of the city. The whole cost of 
lots and building was $16,200. A debt of $7,000 was paid off in 
three or four years. The congregation was formally organized in 
December, 1823, and Mr. McLean was called as the first pastor in 
the following year. Eev. Dr. Jacob Brodhead was the pastor from 
1826 to 1837; Rev. Dr. Samuel A. Van Yranken from 1837 to 
1841 ; Rev. Dr. George Fisher from 1841 to 1854, and Rev. Henry 
V. Vorhees from May to December, 1855, who resigned by reason 
of ill health. In April Dr. Stryker was called. 

In 1859 a debt had accumulated of $17,000, and the congregation 
was greatly reduced in numbers by the removal up-town of its mem- 
bers. In May, 1859, a union was effected with the Livingston Re- 
formed Dutch Church, worshipping in a hall on the corner of Thirty- 
third street and Eighth avenue, where services were continued. 
Meanwhile the down-town property was sold, and eligible building 
lots purchased in Thirty-fourth street. The last service took place 
in the old church April 15th, 1860, when Dr. Stryker preached an 
appropriate discourse. In a period of between thirty-six and thirty- 
seven years, 488 marriages were solemnized, 557 infants baptized, 
and 1,204 members admitted. 

A fine church building was erected on Thirty-fourth street, and 
dedicated March 3d, 1861. The cost was some $60,000. A debt 
of $35,000 which remained was liquidated in three or four years. 
The church was built during the depression occasioned by the break- 
ing out of the rebellion, and the heavy debt seriously threatened 
the prosperity of the congregation ; but its increase was such that 
it was soon able to remove all embarrassment. 

In the spring of 1868 Dr. Stryker left New York, and became 
the pastor of the North Broad Street Presbyterian Church, Phila- 
delphia. He was induced to leave that important field on account 

545 



REV. PETER STRYKER, D. D. 

of the ill health of two members of his family. He is now the 
pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Rome, New York, one 
of the largest and most important churches of that denomination. 
His sphere of influence is even larger than it was either in New 
York or Philadelphia. He has declined many invitations to settle 
in Chicago, and other prominent places. He is much engaged in 
the temperance cause, and also delivers popular lectures. His most 
entertaining and eloquent lectures are from uuder the respective titles 
of "Conversation," "Practicability," "Matrimony," and "Grease for 
the Wheel." In the summer of 1872 he returned from a tour in 
Europe, Egypt, and Palestine. 

Dr. Stryker received his degree of D. D. from the University of 
New York in April, 1866. For many years he has been a member 
of the Executive Committee of the Board of Domestic Missions, 
and he is one of the Council of the Patriot Orphan Home, at 
Flushing, Long Island. 

He has written largely for the "Christian Intelligencer," "Na- 
tional Advocate," and " The Youth's Temperance Banner," organs 
of the National Temperance Society. Among his writings is much 
in verse, including Sunday School, missionary, and temperance 
hymns. He has published a volume entitled " Three Little Craves ;" 
another, entitled "Little Gems for the Saviour's Crown;" and a 
third will soon be put to press. The most noted of his published 
sermons are "The Lower Depths of the Great American Metropo- 
lis," and "The City Wholly Given to Idolatry." 

The following extract from one of Dr. Stryker's sermons is cha- 
racteristic of his style : 

" Beloved Christians, let us look forward to heaven as the place of our abode 
when we shall have conquered the last enemy, Death. Sweeter bliss than the most 
fertile imagination can conceive, purer and more perfect enjoyment than the. Chris- 
tian can anticipate, awaits us there. All past evil will be forgotten, and the future 
be entirely free from sorrow. Every blessing which an intelligent and holy being 
can desire will be provided. The society of all the good who have ever inhabited 
earth, and the angels who have never sinned, and what is infinitely more to be 
desired, the fellowship and love of the triune God, will be enjoyed. Oh ! how rav- 
ishing the anticipation ! To see the great white throne, the fountain gushing be- 
neath it, the river and the tree of life, the glory of the Lord ; to wear the crown, 
and hold the palm of victory, and strike the golden harp ; to hear the anthem of the 
angels and all the redeemed, and see the smile of Jesus ; to join in the song of tri- 
umph ; to have unfolded to our view the great mystery of redemption, and learn 
more and more of the wonderful nature of God, and the astonishing perfection of 
His works — to do and experience all this, and yet to be so constituted as to feel no 
weariness ; to behold eternal day, and need no night to bring repose ; to see eternal 

546 



EEV. PETER STRIKER, D. D. 

sunshine, and require no shadows to make us better appreciate the full splendor ; to 
eat, but never feel satiety ; to drink, but never become intoxicated ; to glide along 
on a calm sea that never has a ripple ; '.o sing with millions, and not one note of dis- 
cord ; and all the while the voice becoming attuned to higher and sweeter strains, 
the ear accustomed to drink in more delicious melodies, the mind expanding to 
comprehend richer truths, and the heart developing to the experience and expres- 
sion of purer and fuller love ! Perfection, and going on to perfection ! Glory, in- 
creasing glory ! Praise, higher praise ! Oh! this is Heaven. This is what the poor, 
toiling, careworn, infirm, sick, dying believer will experience when he has crossed 
the rill of death, and reaches the celestial city. This is what millions of poor pil- 
grims who rest from their weary journey have attained." 

Dr. Stryker is about the average height, and rather sparely 
made. To look at him, he seems of a delicate, feeble organization, 
but he is really a person of a great deal of physical energy and en- 
durance. His head is well-formed, with regular features. His brow 
is round and well developed, and it is to be seen that his intellectual 
capacity is of no mean order. 

It is no trouble to become acquainted with Dr. Stryker. He 
is genial, talkative, and cheerful, and he puts you on a basis of good 
fellowship at once. You find him kind and considerate in all 
things ; but you see that his opinions are firm, his prejudices deep- 
seated, and his purpose marked out and sustained by conscientious 
conviction. 

Dr. Stryker cannot but be regarded as a most valuable man in 
his day and generation. He loves to work, and all that he attempts 
is done with judgment and energy, and hence generally with suc- 
cess. He does not travel along the beaten track of his pastoral 
duties, but he puts his shoulder to the wheel wherever he thinks 
he can do his fellow-man a service. 

He writes a fluent and very practical sermon. It has a thorough- 
ly religious tone ; and while he never writes a word for mere dis- 
play, his thoughts naturally weave themselves into fervent and 
eloquent language. He is also logical and argumentative, and, 
whatever he has to say, does not hesitate to say it fearlessly and to 
the point. In all reforms he exhibits great power. He is untiring, 
shows the keenest judgment in regard to the plans of the adversary, 
detects his weaknesses, and makes himself formidable by his intelli- 
gent mastery of the whole subject. 

Dr. Stryker is more progressive than most ministers of his de- 
nomination. He makes his pulpit a means of carrying forward his 
war of reform. Convinced of his own duty in the premises, he 
strikes trenchant blows on every hand, indifferent to all criticism., 
and only eager for the overthrow of vice. 

547 



REV. EDWIN C. SWEETSER, 

■PAJSTOR OF THE THIRD TJIVIV-E RSALIST 
CHURCH, IVEW YORK. 




EV. EDWIN C. SWEETSER was bora in the town of 
Wakefield, Mass., March 16th, 1847. His father was 
a school-teacher during the greater part of his life after he 
attained his majority. An older brother is also a Univer- 
salist minister. He entered Tuft's College, Medford, Mass.. 
a Universalist institution, in his sixteenth year, and was 
graduated in his twentieth. After graduation he spent one 
year in business, and then entered the Theological School at St 
Lawrence University, Canton, N. Y., where he pursued his studies 
for one year. He then accepted a call to a Universalist Church in 
Syracuse, 5T. Y., beginning his labors there September, 1868. In 
September, 1869, he came to the city of New York, and entered 
upon the duties of his present pastorship over the Third Universalist 
Church, corner of Bleeker and Downing streets. 

This society was organized over forty years ago, and on the 19th 
of June, 1836, the present church was dedicated. Some years since 
the church was renovated at a cost of six thousand dollars, when the 
whole property was valued at fifty thousand dollars. There have 
been five pastors, Mr. C. F. Lafever, being the first. The Rev. Moses 
Ballou and the Rev. Day K. Lee, both eminent ministers of the de- 
nomination, were also pastors for considerable periods. Mr. Lee died 
while in the service of the society, and was succeeded by the present 
pastor. The membership has nearly quadrupled under the ministry 
of Mr. Sweetser, and the attendance is much larger. It is expected 
that a new edifice will be built further up-town within a few years. 
Mr. Sweetser is of the average height,- finely proportioned, and 

erect His hea 1 is of considerable size, with a pale, intellectual face. 

548 



REV. EDWIN C. SWEETSER. 



He is a man who instantly establishes himself in your favorable 
opinion by both appearance and manners. You see that he is full 
of the genuine frankness, friendliness, and amiability, which are so 
delightful in social intercourse. He has dignity, too, but it is of just 
that measure -which should be seen in one of his clerical calling, 
without in any way taking from that spontaneous good feeling and 
good nature which belong to him naturally. Thus constituted, of 
course, he is a popular man, standing on intimate relations of friend- 
ship with all who know him. 

He preaches with a great deal of fervor and power. Deep, positive, 
and conscientious in his own religious convictions, he speaks with all 
the force of his mind and of his feelings. There is nothing dry or 
tame about it, for it is the strong outpouring of faith, and the glow 
of personal emotion. His language is choice and expressive, and his 
gesticulation is appropriate and timely. While he is still a young 
man in the ministry, it is clearly to be observed that he has a self- 
possession which gives much additional weight to his utterances. 
The reason for this .is, that he is a close student and a deep thinker, 
so that he goes into the pulpit with complete preparation to argue his 
subject and to defend it. Prosecuting his chosen work with earnest- 
ness and fidelity, he illustrates it by the practice on his own part in 
a life of admired virtues. 

549 



REV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE, 

PASTOB CXF 1 THE CENTRAIi PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH. BROOKEYN. 




EV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE was bom near Bound 
Brook, New Jersey, January 7th, 1832. He is the son 
of David Talmnge, who at one time was sheriff of 
Somerset county. Four brothers of this family are in 
the ministry — viz: James R. Talmage, D. D.; John 
V. N. Talmage, D. D., a distinguished missionary in China ; 
Goyn Talmage, and T. De Witt Talmaga Another brother 
was the late Daniel Talmage, a well-known rice merchant of New 
York, and one of the originators of the Native American party and 
the order of United Americans. The subject of our notice was 
graduated at the University of the City of New York in 1853, and 
at the Theological Seminary, New Brunswick, in 1856. During the 
summer of the same year he was called to Belleville, New York, where 
he was duly ordained and installed. He remained in this position 
about three years, when, in 1859, he was called to the Second Re- 
formed Church of Philadelphia, where he labored seven years. From 
his earliest appearance in the pulpit he commanded marked public 
attention. He showed himself to be a man of original thought, and 
an orator of no mean ability ; hence crowds flocked to hear him, and 
his congregation grew in numbers and influence. At a period when 
his church in Philadelphia was in an extremely flourishing condition, 
he was invited to the pastorship of the Central Presbyterian Church, 
located on Schermerhorn street, Brooklyn, which was somewhat fee- 
ble and disorganized. He accepted, and was installed in April, 1869. 
The Central Presbyterian Church was, at an earlier date, located 
in Willoughby street, where for some time it was in charge of the 
Rev. Mr. Duffield. On the 13th of February, 1851, the Rev. Dr. J. 
Edson Rockwell was installed as the pastor, and thus remained for 

550 







,-i. jL 




~3> 



A ^e^ /L/^ 




BEV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE. 

some fourteen years, when he accepted a call to a Presbyterian church 
on Staten Island. The congregation, after many trials, in which they 
were continually called upon to appreciate the cheerful hope and un- 
tiring energy of Dr. Eockwell, were enabled to build an edifice in 
Schermerhorn street, seating one thousand people, which was dedi- 
cated December 10th, 1854. The cost of the whole property was 
about thirty-four thousand dollars, of which an indebtedness of twelve 
thousand five hundred dollars remained until 1863, when it was paid. 
Mr. Talmage had preached only one year, when the church be- 
came crowded at every service to its utmost capacity. All the pews 
were taken at increased rentals, and the pastor was paid the large 
salary of seven thousand dollars. The increase has been constant, 
and now the assemblage at each service is immense. In 1870 a large 
structure was erected for the use of the congregation, on a site of six 
lots on Schermerhorn street, not far from the old church. In style 
it was plain, but substantial, having an interior constructed on the 
amphitheatre plan. It was known by the name of the " Tabernacle," 
and was crowded at each service. The great organ used in the Col- 
iseum in Boston 'during the Musical Peace Jubilee in 1869 was 
purchased for this church, and removed to Brooklyn. Just before 
service on a Sabbath morning in December, 1872, this novel struc- 
ture was totally consumed by fire. The Acadamy of Music was 
then obtained, and service was conducted there on each Sabbath 
until the completion of a new and larger church edifice on the former 
site. The corner-stone was laid with impressive services, on the 7th 
of June, 1873, and contained the following inscription : — "Brook- 
lyn Tabernacle, Built 1870 ; destroyed by fire December 22, 1872 ; 
rebuilt, 1873." The completed edifice was dedicated on Sunday 
February 22d, 1874, before an immense congregation. On the follow- 
ing Sunday three hundred and twenty eight new members were 
received and partook of the sacrament. The ceremony was witnessed 
by a congregation of five thousand people. This is one of the largest 
public buildings of Brooklyn, and there is no other church edifice 
at all to compare with it. The original church building had been 
fitted up for a reading-room, and room for the social gatherings of 
the congregation. It is also used for the Free Lay College, an insti- 
tution for the instruction of persons in the lay ministry, established 
by Mr. Talmage, and of which he is the President. There are six 
hundred students, and twenty eight preaching stations have beeu 
established in Brooklyn, New York, and other cities. 

551 



KEV. T. DE WITT TiLIAGE. 

Mr. Talmage early induced his congregation to consent to have a 
free church. He states that he is utterly opposed to the present sys- 
tem upon which most churches are conducted of high rents for the 
pews, and utter unconcern for the accommodation of those who cannot 
pay them. As a student of human nature, and as a believer in the 
influence of Christian teachings, be is confident that a church which 
is really free will thrive more abundantly on the voluntary offerings 
of God's people than by the method generally adopted. He thinks 
that one system appeals to the baser nature, while the other will 
develop generous and Christian impulses. Hence out of all the 
pews in the vast structure of the Central congregation not one is 
sold or rented. The men of wealth, or in moderate circumstances, and 
the poor, all have equal rights in pews, and the expenses of the 
church are borne by subscription, and the Sunday collections. 
Priority of application is the only rule regulating the selection- and 
a pew once taken can be held as long as the occupant desires it. 
This is in fact, an experiment of the free-pew system on the most 
extensive scale ever attempted. 

Mr. Talmage has lectured throughout the country with great 
success, having been everywhere received by crowded audiences. 
Among his lectures may be named "The New Life of the Nation," 
"Grumblers," "Our New House," and "The Bright Side of 
Things." He is also a contributor to many of the periodicals. 
Exceedingly agreable sketches from his pen have appeared in the 
Neiv York Weekly, Hearth and Home, Hours at Home, and in the 
New York Independent. He is the editor of a religious paper called 
the Christian at Work. He has published a volume of Sermons, and 
" One Thousand Gems, or Brilliant Passages, Anecdotes, and Inci- 
dents, etc.," edited by Professor Larabee. 

Mr. Talmage is above the medium height, and well-proportioned. 
His frame is large, but he is naturally rather thin in flesh. His head 
is of the average size, with marked evidence of intellectual power. 
He has light eyes and a sandy complexion. Looking into his face, 
you are struck with its amiability and cheerfulness. In conversa- 
tion it is always bright with animation, and at all times is a perfect 
mirror of his emotions. His eyes are clear, tender,*and observing, 
while his tone and manners are gentle and warm in the extreme. 
An invariable self-reliance, and calmness, and judgment in all his 
proceedings give him dignity and self-possession, but in these partic- 
ulars there is nothing affected or studied about him. He is plain 

552 



RET. T. DE WITT TALMAGE. 

and unostentatious in his appearance and bearing, and hence mingles 
freely with his fellow-men. His warmth of manners and his genial 
flow of conversation place even the stranger at once on the most 
agreeable terms with him. In truth, his conversational powers are 
little less than fascinating. He is full of noble sentiments, poetry, 
and humor ; he looks at life with his " eyes and ears wide open,' : and 
he discusses both men and topics with comprehensiveness and origi- 
nality. He is never ashamed to show his feelings, and never afraid 
to declare his opinions. Independent, out-spoken, and yet generous, 
tender, and sympathetic, he presents in his own disposition the most 
manly and at the same time the most beautiful traits that ever adorn 
human character. In social life he is all vivacity, all goodness, and 
all himself. "Whether it be eccentricity, or whether it be simply a 
larger share of rich, exuberant animal spirits than most ministers 
possess, certain it is that the Eev. T. De Witt Talmage is more real 
and true to a genuine human nature in social life than any of his 
contemporaries. He seems to go clown into his own heart for a gush- 
ing, abundant spring of fellowship and love, which washes out 
channels to every other heart. He follows no conventional rules, he 
is guided by no example, but, as we have stated, he is himself. This 
is not because he is indifferent to the force of these rules and ex- 
amples, but because he acts from a quick, impulsive, and original 
nature of his own. When, in the glee and enthusiasm of the mo- 
ment, at a church festival, he exclaimed that he felt <; like the 
morning star," it was not that his taste induced him to take his 
illustration from negro minstrelsy, but, acting on the impulse of the 
moment, he humorously seized upon a popular saying to express 
the state of his own feelings. Men of stiff pi-opriety and of starched 
dignity would not do or say many things that be does every day. 
With him, however, a free, honest, cheerful heart is much more cul- 
tivated, and it is given, impulsive and erratic as it often is, full 
influence and control over his actions and sentiments. 

As a preacher, he has even more striking peculiarities. He is an 
original, terse, bold, and eloquent writer, and a fluent, impassioned 
speaker. He has the most complete command of language, which 
takes forms of expression which are not less new than graphic and 
impressive. His thought takes a wide range on every subject, and 
they are sudden in their changes from the solemn and sublime to the 
humorous and odd. At one time he will indulge in a strain of the 
most touching pathos, and then suddenly introduce some humorous 

553 



REV. T. DE WITT TALHAGE. 

and grotesque illustration that will almost set the audience in a roar. 
His language is chaste and beautiful in the expression of the more 
sentimental passages, and it is most pungent and overwhelming in 
criticism and denunciation. He has sarcasm, irony, and ridicule at 
his tongue's end, not less than words of exquisite poetic beauty and 
tenderness. All of this is so mingled together, and so altered in 
surprises, that his audience find themselves spell-bound by the nov- 
elty of style as well as the eloquence of the orator. His voice is 
powerful and flexible. He can in an instant change it from tones 
that ring out to the capacity of the largest building to accents that 
float in soft whispers to the ear. His gesticulation is somewhat mar- 
velous. There is not a sentence that he has not some gesture of the 
hand, the arms, the head, or the body to illustrate or enforce, and 
still it is all done with such appropriateness and gracefulness that it 
adds immensely to the effectiveness of his oratory. His face, too, 
has great mobility, and in the changing expressions of eye, mouth, 
and brow is a vivid accompaniment to his fervent words. 

Many persons find it difficult to form a favorable opinion in re- 
gard to Mr. Tal mage's merits as a preacher. His style is so eccentric 
and original that some consider it mere sensational trash in language, 
and buffoonery in action. But this is a harsh and unjust judgment 
To be sure he puts language into unusual for. is, and deals in the 
comic to a large degree ; but no preacher of the day can give a keener 
dissection of human motives, or make a more masterly and elo- 
quent Christian appeal. A half-hour of his earnest, original discus- 
sion will give you suggestions which will not leave you for many a 
day thereafter. As a man he is somewhat of an oddity ; but as a 
preacher, he is full of the spirit of God, and every talent and every 
purpose is devoted to the work for the regeneration of fallen man. 
If he makes you smile and weep in a breath, if he has simple sayings 
and whimsical ways, he is also a ripe scholar, a clear-headed philoso- 
pher, and a Christian orator. He has qualifications which enable 
him to reach and control the great popular heart, and his ministry 
is consequently one of most marked success. 

554 









, 




ft 



A- 




REY. WILLIAM M. TAYLOR, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE TABERNACLE COPfGREGA. 
TIONAL CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




EV. DE WILLIAM M. TAYLOE was born at Kilmar- 
noch, Scotland, October 23d, 1829. He was graduated 
at the University of Glasgow in 1849, and at the theo- 
logical Hall of the United Presbyterian Church in 
Edinburgh in 1852. On the 14th of December of the same 
year he was licensed to preach, and on the 28th of June, 1853, 
he was first settled as a pastor at Kilmaurs, a small village of Ayr- 
shire county, Scotland. Here he remained two years until called to 
the Derby Eoad Church in Liverpool, England, October 23d, 1855. 
This was a missionary enterprise among the middle classes and skilled 
operators of the city, and from a membership of thirty or forty, at 
the beginning of Dr. Taylor's pastorship, the church rose to a member- 
ship of six hundred, and a regular attendance of from eight to nine 
hundred. A new church edifice was erected at a cost of fifty thousand 
dollars. 

In 1871 Dr. Taylor visited the United States, and for over two 
months filled the pulpit of the Pilgrim Church (Eev. Dr. Storr's), 
Brooklyn, as a supply. Crowds were drawn to hear him, and his 
preaching produced a profound impression. When the Eev. Dr 
Joseph P. Thompson, for twenty-six years pastor of the Tabernacle 
Congregational Church, New York, suddenly resigned by reason of 
the permanent failure of his health, it was determined to call Dr. 
Taylor to the vacancy, though he had never preached before the con- 
gregation. Dr. Thompson went abroad immediately, and bore with 
him the call to Dr. Taylor, which was duly accepted. Dr. Taylor 
shortly reached New York, and was installed pastor of the Taber- 
nacle Church, April 18th, 1872. He received from the Liverpool 
congregation, and the temperance and other reform organizations 
with which he was actively connected, many tokens, in gifts and 
addresses, of the most sincere admiration, and regret at the necessarv 

555 



REV. "WILLIAM M. TAYLOR, D. D. 

separation. In every sphere of religious and moral effort his sojourn 
of seventeen years in Liverpool had been characterized by the most 
gratifying results to the community. 

The Broadway Tabernacle congregation had its origin in the first 
free church movement in New York, over forty years ago. About 
1830 Lewis Tappan, and a few other persons, organized the earliest 
free church at the corner of Dey and Washington streets. Two 
years later they called to New York the Eev. Charles Gr. Finney, now 
of Oberlin College, but then a noted revival preacher. The Chatham 
Theatre was obtained for a place of worship, and a small colony went 
to it from the Dey street church. Mr. Finney preached during four 
years at the Theatre building, sometimes to audiences of twenty-five 
hundred people, and caused a great religious excitement. At length 
it was decided to build the edifice which took the name of the Broad- 
way Tabernacle, and was completed in 1836, at a cost, for ground 
and building, of sixty -six thousand dollars. The building was one 
hundred feet square, with a spacious gallery around the entire circuit, 
and would hold three thousand people. While the chief design was 
the extension of the free church plan, it was proposed also to provide 
suitable accommodation for the May anniversaries and other public 
meetings. From the number of important meetings held here during 
the twenty-one years of its existence, the building became famous 
throughout the whole country. 

Mr. Finney and a colony from the Chatham Theatre first occupied 
it as the sixth free church of the city. It adopted the name and 
became mainly Congregational. In less than a year Mr. Finney 
left, and in 1838, a colony from the first church came in, and the 
Rev. Joel Parker became pastor. During two years the church was 
chiefly under Presbyterian rule. A heavy mortgage on the building 
was about to be foreclosed, when it was purchased by the late David 
Hale, a member of the congregation, and editor of the Journal of 
Commerce, for $34,363. At the last meeting held in the vestry July 
7th, 1840, under Mr. Parker, a committee was appointed for the 
formation of a Congregational church, which was done under its 
present name. Mr. Hale gave the new church a most liberal lease, 
and the Bev. E. W. Andrews was settled as the first pastor in January, 
1841. He was succeeded in April, 1845, by the Bev. Joseph P. 
Thompson, who so long was the efficient and popular pastor. The 
last religious services were held in the old Tabernacle on the 26th 
of April, 1857. A very eligible site, on the corner of Sixth avenue 

556 



EEV. WILLIAM M. TATLOE, D. D. 

and Thirty-fourth street, consisting of six lots, was purchased for 
$60,000, and a fine stone edifice, costing $100,000, was completed in 
1859. The congregation at once became one of the strongest of the 
up-town religious bodies. In 1872 the building was remodeled and 
beautifully decorated at a cost of $40,000. There are about six 
hundred members, and every seat is rented. A large Sunday School 
is under the care of Caleb B. Knevals, Esq. In all their contributions 
for the support of public worship and benevolent objects, the congre- 
gation is not exceeded in liberality by any in New York. 

Dr. Taylor was a contributor to one of the Scottish reviews for 
several years. He also published in 1862 a volume entitled "Life 
Truths ;" in 1865 two volumes on " The Miracles ; Helps to Faith 
Not Hindrances," and more recently "The Lost Found," a series of 
sermons on the fifteenth chapter of Luke. In July, 1872, he received 
the degree of D.D. from both Yale and Amherst colleges. 

In personal appearance Dr. Taylor is a good type of the intellect- 
ual Scotchman. Of the medium height ,he is of a compact, well-propor- 
tioned form, showing evidence of no little physical vigor. He has 
an active step, with a slightly inclined and swinging body as he 
hurries along. His head is large, gradually increasing in fullness 
from the broad massive mouth to the round high brow, which over- 
hangs the clear observing eyes. He has thick black hair and heavy 
whiskers. The face is one in which force of character, greatness of 
mind, and kindness of heart, are all displayed. It shows resolution 
and courage in the firmly compressed mouth, and grasp of thought in 
the noble brow, but not less of gentleness of heart in the kindly 
beaming eyes, and warm sunny smile. His manners are always 
courteous and fascinating, so that you are unconsciously drawn into 
intimate relations with him ; but at the same time you never cease to 
feel that he is the impersonation of the giant forces which move and 
guide mankind. He is not wanting in dignity, but has an easy 
politeness and sociability with all, which quickly remove restraint 
Talkative and cheerful, in social life he is alike popular with the 
old and young. In the wider scenes of his public duties, good feel- 
ing and earnestness of action always prevail. 

Dr. Taylor has been a diligent student in the deeper studies of 
theology, as well as in more popular learning and literature, conse- 
quently bis mind, of great natural freshness and quickness, is adorn- 
ed with a culture which enables him to deal with every question, not 
only in its most scholarly, but its most refined forms of thought and 

557 



EEV. WILLIAM M. TAYLOR. D. D. 

expression. All his writings have a beauty and force of diction 
which charm the educated taste. His arguments have originality 
and penetration, while the language throughout is delicate, pure, and 
impassioned. Though a stern religionist, he is a man not without a 
love of the beautiful in nature and life. His heart and mind are 
always open to those impressions, and in his writings and conversa- 
tion his fancy often repeats them in graceful poetic imagery. A 
serious, earnest minister of the Gospel, his effort is to be exactly con- 
sistent in all the duties of his calling and faith, but fortunately he is 
a person moved by those impulses which harmonize his feelings with 
truth, humanity, and purity in all their phases. His writings there- 
fore, be they religious or whatever else, have all that the seeker for 
argument and scholarly depth may desire, with those exquisite touches 
of feeling to make them more beautiful and tender. 

But without doubt the greatest power of Dr. Taylor is as the pulpit 
orator. He begins in a calm, self-possessed manner, stating his position 
in particularly clear and forcible language. His voice is full and pow- 
erful, but always completely under his control, and properly modu- 
lated to give effect to his utterances. As he goes on he becomes more 
absorbed in his feelings, he gesticulates a great deal, and frequently 
rises to bursts of strong emotion and thrilling eloquence. You are 
struck with the vigor and copiousness of the language, of the aptness 
and newness of the illustrations, and of the profound knowledge of 
the Scriptures and of the human heart. "When he concludes, gen- 
erally with some glowing picture of religious fancy, or with some 
pathetic appeal to the feelings, you find yourself awakened from the 
spell which only matchless oratory can invoke. 

We regard Dr. Taylor as a most valuable acquisition to the 
American pulpit Ordained to preach the Gospel, he is doing it 
with his whole heart, and all the gifts which God has given him. 
Men are proud of him, and they are arrested in their heedless walks 
by his pious teachings and his bright example. Hence his pastor- 
ships are made memorable for fidelity to duty, and the number of 
those added to the household of the redeemed. 

558 



REV. ELISHA E. L. TAYLOR, D. D., 

LATE PASTOR OF STRONG X»H.A.C3E BAPTIST 

CHURCH, BROOKLYN. 




\EV. DR. ELISHA E. L. TAYLOR was born in the 
village of Delphi, Onondaga county, New York, Sept. 
25th, 1815. His father, Richard Taylor, was the son of 
Judge Taylor, of Saratoga county, several of whose sons 
were distinguished in that county and elsewhere, in 
^2 political circles and in service in the last war with Great 
Britain. Hon. John M. Taylor, of Balston Spa, who was 
State senator, lieutenant-governor, member of Congress for over 
twenty consecutive years, and Speaker of the House for two sessions, 
was one of the sons. The subject of our notice prepared for college 
principally at Hamilton, Madison county, and was graduated at 
Madison University, and at the Hamilton Theological Seminary, 
in the year 1839. He remained until the spring of 1840 a resident 
graduate, and then removed to Brooklyn, where all his ministerial 
life was spent. In May. 1810, he organized what is known as the 
Pierrepont street Baptist Church, and an edifice for worship was 
erected on the corner of Pierrepont and Clinton streets. This con- 
gregation increased rapidly from year to year. In the fall of 1848 a 
new society seemed earnestly called for in South Brooklyn, and Dr. 
Taylor was induced to accept the call of a colony from the old 
church, who went out with the cordial approval of the mother 
church to raise a new organization in that growing and important 
part of the city. 

In 1849 worship was commenced in a new stone chapel in Strong 
place. A large and elegant main edifice of red free-stone, fronting 
on Degraw street, was erected during 1851-2, and dedicated Sep- 
tember 19th, 1852. For tastefulness, spaciousness, and convenience 
these buildings are unsurpassed in the whole country. The buildings 
alone cost over seventy thousand dollars, and the last of the debt 

559 



BEV. ELISHA E L. TAYLOR, D. D. 

was paid in 1863. Up to the same period one thousand members had 
joined the church, and five hundred of the members were received 
and baptized on profession of their faith. 

A few years since Dr. Taylor felt obliged, by ill health, to with- 
draw from the active ministry, and accordingly resigned. His con- 
gregation parted with him only with the greatest regret. The sum of 
twenty thousand dollars was presented to him. 

During Dr. Taylor's pastorship we penned the following remarks 
concerning him, which show his habits at that time. 

" Dr. Taylor is an earnest laborer in the field of the Lord. Mere 
preaching is a small part of his toils. His restless, untiring spirit 
will not allow him to keep aloof from any scheme or purpose which 
can possibly increase his flock and advance the interests of religion. 
He does not hide himself in his study, and leave all non -professional 
matters to his deacons and committeemen, but he goes abroad and 
puts his shoulder to the wheel with them, and, if they try to escape 
their duty, he pursues them ' where merchants most do congregate.' 
He is, in fact, a go-ahead, systematic, business-man, and one of the 
results is seen to-day in the somewhat rare circumstance of a church 
free from debt. He watches everything and everybody, and he 
wishes everybody to watch him, and has drawn about him a class of 
people who are as thorough -going as himself. When the Strong 
Place congregation was organized, he took a colony of Baptists from 
other parts of the city, and created a population in the vicinity of the 
new sanctuary. All within a few years, a magnificent edifice has 
been built, one of the largest congregations in Brooklyn drawn to- 
gether, and the church cleared from every encumbrance. "While 
much of this success has been occasioned by the talent of Dr. Taylor 
as a preacher, still he has done quite as much by his ability and per- 
severance in other branches of duty." 

Dr. Taylor is now connected with the Baptist Union Rooms, as 
Secretary of the Church Extension Fund. His efforts are specially 
directed to the raising of money for the benefit of Baptist churches in 
the West. He is a very enthusiastic Baptist His whole being 
seems constantly pervaded with rejoicings in his faith, which is 
everything to him, while all others are as nothing. As may be sup- 
posed, his preaching is decidedly sectarian. "Rather," he said, on 
one occasion, " might my right arm be hewn from my body than that 
I should not stand baptized by immersion." The expounding of the 
Baptist faith, and the enlargement of the Baptist fold, are to him the 

560 



REV. ELISHA E. L. TAYLOR, D. D. 

sum and substance of all earthly glory. In this work he is kindled 
with an ever-present, ever-controlling inspiration. To show his de- 
votion to his sect, it may be mentioned that he founded a library 
connected with his church, which consists of works on a great variety 
of subjects, but only those written by Baptists. He wishes to make 
apparent the extensive scope of the Baptist mind. 

Dr. Taylor's sermons nre extremely plain and practical. He is 
not much given to efforts of rhetoric or flights of fancy ; but he 
writes in bold, vigorous terms, discussing every point with peculiar 
thoroughness, and making sober logic his sole reliance. He has a 
full, harmonious voice, and exhibits much absorption in his subject, 
combined with an eloquent animation. In truth, Dr. Taylor is one 
of the most able, efficient, and popular of the Baptist clergy. 

He received the degree of D. D. from Rochester University, in 
1855. His publications consist of several sermons, and two or three 
public addresses, delivered on special occasions. 

Dr. Taylor is under the average height, and slightly inclined to 
corpulency. His head is large, and set on his shoulders with a 
muscular neck. The face is broad and expressive, and the brow well 
developed. He is very courteous, while a person of decided opinions, 
and not backward in expressing them. He has a high sense of pro- 
priety in regard to everything he does, and is particularly rigid in 
the performance of all professional duties. 

561 









REV. JESSE B. THOMAS, 

PASTOR OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, 
BROOKLYN. 




EV. JESSE B. THOMAS was born at Edwardsville, 
Madison county, Illinois, July 29th, 1832. His father 
was the late Judge Jesse B. Thomas, of the Supreme 
Court of that State. He was graduated at Kenyon Col- 
Gambier, Ohio, in August, 1850, and commenced the 
tudy of the law. He was converted and became a member 
of the Baptist Church when not quite ten years of age. Theology 
had been also a favorite study with him, and in the autumn of 1852 
he went to the Rochester Theological Seminary, a Baptist institu 
tion, with the intention of preparing regularly for the ministry 
111 health obliged him to leave at the end of two months ; and, re- 
turning after six months, spent principally in traveling, he was again 
compelled, for the same reason, to relinquish his studies. During 
this time, however, in 1853, he was licensed to preach. After leav- 
ing the Seminary he returned to Chicago, and was engaged in mer- 
cantile pursuits until the autumn of 1855. In the same year he was 
admitted to the bar in Chicago, where he practiced until October, 
1862. He now became pastor of the Baptist Church, at "Wakegan, 
Illinois, and thus continued until July, 1864, when he accepted a 
call to the Pierrepont Street Baptist Church, Brooklyn, an old and 
leading congregation. He entered upon his duties on the 1st of the 
succeeding September. Later, Mr. Thomas accepted calls to churches 
in San Francisco and Chicago. In 1873 he was invited to the pas- 
torship of the First Baptist Church of Brooklyn, which had formed 
a union with the Pierrepont street congregation. His official duties 
commenced on the first Sunday in January, 1874. 

The First Baptist Church was organized with eleven members, 
and incorporated October 15th, 1823. Services were held for some 
time in District School House, No 1. A lot was purchased in Pearl 
street, between Concord and Nassau streets, for $4,000, and a house, 

562 



REV. JESSE B. THOMAS. 

sixty by forty feet erected, which the congregation continued to oc- 
cupy for about ten years. Having secured a lot in Nassau street, 
near Fulton street, for $7,000, in 1834, the recently occupied edilice 
of the congregation, eighty by sixty feet, was constructed, at a cost of 
$17,000. The building vacated was sold to an Episcopal congre- 
gation. Rev. W. C. Hawley, or Holly, was the first pastor. In 
1841, Eev. Dr. J. L. Hodge became the pastor, and thus remained 
during eleven years. He temporarily supplied the pulpit for a year 
subsequently. Rev. Henry M. Gallaher then become the pastor, 
and served for several years. Just prior to the coming of Mr. Tho- 
mas, the church edifice was destroyed by fire, but the united con- 
gregation has the house of the Pierrepont street congregation for its 
place of meeting. 

Mr. Thomas is something above the medium height, equally 
proportioned, and altogether of a firm, substantial- looking figure. 
He stands erect, with his head well up, and readily gives you the 
idea that his solid, thoughtful steps are not more of the physical 
than mental. His head is of fair size, with regular, intelligent fea- 
tures. He has a pale complexion, and rather a serious, half-sad 
cast of countenance. In his manners he is quiet and undemonstra- 1 
tive, though in every sense cordial. His predominant characteristic 
is religious seriousness. In boyhood and manhood it has been the 
same. Beyond everything else of interest, beyond all worldly con- 
siderations, the one fascination — the one ever-present thought — the 
ooe full and complete comfort of his heart has been religion. It is 
not that he presumes to that intense sanctity which men of ardent 
piety are apt to assume, nor is it that he fails to assimilate with those 
who are not as seriously impressed as himself. Without falling into 
the error of such a course, his conduct simply shows, at all times 
and to all men, that he is a religious man, and that he seeks to be 
true to his profession, while wholly averse to being deemed a paragon, 
or even an example. In a word, he is the correct-bearing Christian, 
without the affectation of saintship. Understanding full well the 
folly of the self-sufficient Pharisee, he walks before men in the hu- 
mility, but hopefulness, of the poor sinner. Observe him, and you 
will say that he is a Grod-fearing, devout man, but never that he is 
presumptuous in his godliness. Talk with him, and you will say 
that he is ever seeking religious topics, but never that it is for any 
other purpose than to unfold to other eyes the heavenly glories upon 
which his own are meekly fixed. In early boyhood he made a pub- 

563 









REV. JESSE B. THOMAS. 

lie profession of his faith, and has never faltered in it But those 
who remember him in that day can well attest that it was a con- 
scientious act Feeling truly re-born, renewed and re-made, as he 
arose from the baptismal waters, still, when again among his young 
companions, he bore himself as if happier rather than holier. When 
at the bar, he was a licensed minister and a thorough-going Chris- 
tian, and yet he never made any parade of these things, while he 
always made them influential, in and out of his profession, when it 
could be clone. Thus is it that his life has been rendered little less 
than remarkable. Attaining to great virtues, he has never seemed 
to be aware of it ; living the impersonation of all his professions, he 
has never deemed it anything unusually meritorious. Always a 
teacher and example, as well by his practice as his precepts, he 
has claimed to be nothing beyond the dilligent learner of truth and 
the humble follower of upright men. 

Mr. Thomas has a style of preaching somewhat uncommon in 
the modern pulpit Giving himself simply a thoughtful prepara- 
tion, he preaches entirely extempoi'e. He thinks that the custom of 
analysis of evidence and the necessity of off-hand speaking, with 
which he was familiarized while at the bar, has served him a good 
purpose in his miuistry. A mental examination of his text, without 
the process of writing out his argument, fits him to discuss it 
When he enters the pulpit he has the whole subject fully in his 
mind, but the language which is to be used is left to the spur of the 
moment Hence his sermon has all the characteristics of an im- 
promptu effort, and is altogether extemporaneous. There is a force 
and feeling about it which written discourses seldom possess. His 
language is exceedingly fluent and well chosen, and the sermon has 
the arrangement of topics and the multiplied heads of argument 
usual to those produced in the study. Borne away by the strength 
of his emotions and on the wings of his ardent fancy, he indulges in 
impassioned picturings ; but they are, after all, illustrations of the 
argument, which never falters to the end. He is slightly dramatic. 
At such periods he moves from side to side of his pulpit, talking 
with that freedom from hesitation and embarrassment, and with 
those acceptable gestures which best show the orator. His voice is 
a pleasant one, and falls naturally into the most effective modula- 
tions. With conspicuous worth and character, he not only brings to 
his profession large mental capacity, but certainly great attractive- 
ness as a public speaker. 

564 



REV. HUGH MILLER THOMPSON, D. D., 

KECTOR OF 1 CHRIST CHURCH, (EPISCOPAL,) 
NEW YORIt. 




)EV. DR HUGH MILLER THOMPSON was born in 
Londonderry, Ireland, June 5th, 1830. He was brought 
to the United States when six years old, and lived first in 
New York city, and then in Cleveland, Ohio. Up to 
^3) eighteen years his studies were pursued privately. In 1852 he 
was graduated in Theology at the Seminary at Nashotah, Wis- 
consin. He was made a deacon of the Episcopal church in Decem- 
ber, 1852, and priest in 1856, by Bishop Kemper, at St. John's 
Church, Portage City, Wisconsin, which was his first rectorship. 
After this he went to St. Matthews, at Kenosha, Wisconsin, and 
in 1859 for one year to Grace Church, Galena, Illinois. In 1860, he 
accepted the professorship of Church History at Nashotah, where he 
remained until 1871. During the same time he was an assistant at 
St. Paul's Church, Milwaukee. He then became rector of St. James', 
Chicago, remaining two years. On the 1st of January, 1872, he 
commenced the duties of his present rectorship, at Christ Churcl , 
Fifth Avenue, New York. 

Christ Chui'ch congregation formerly worshiped in Eighth street, 
but a number of years since purchased the magnificent edifice now 
occupied by them on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Thirty -fifth 
street. Dr. F. C. Ewer was the rector for a long period, and on his 
resignation Dr. Thompson was called. The income of the Church at 
this date is some twenty-five thousand dollars. There are professional 
and boy choirs of fine voices, and the service is rendered with great 
beauty and impressiveness. The large sum of seven thousand five 
hundred dollars is expended for music. At the regular services the 
pews and aisles are crowded with worshipers. 

For twelve years Dr. Thompson was editor-in-chief of the Amer- 
ican Churchman, the leading Episcopal paper of Chicago and the 
Northwest The paper was finally removed to Hartford, Connecticut, 

565 



REV. HUGH MILLER THOMPSON, D. D. 

Dr. Thompson remaining the editor for one year. In April, 1872, 
he became editor of the Church Journal of New York. He has pub- 
lished various books and sermons. The volumes are, " Unity and 
its ^Restoration :" " Sin and Penalty/' (several editions issued) ; " First 
Principles,"' (thirty thousand sold); "Absolution;" and a collection 
of miscellaneous writings under the title of " Copy." He has also 
contributed to the Continental Monthly. 

Dr. Thompson is of the average height, with a compact figure. 
Mental strength is joined with the amplest physical resources. He 
works with unwearying thought and energy, thinking of neither 
time nor toil in reaching ends for the good of his church and society. 
We quote the following description of him, from a communication 
written to a New York journal : 

"Dr. Thompson has been called 'the Beecher of Episcopacy,' 
but no two men, with strong points of resemblance, could be more 
unlike. Up to within a year Dr. Thompson's life has been that of a 
student, a thinker, and a writer. He has few superiors in the land as 
a deeply read scholar and a man of large and liberal knowledge. 
Compai - atively young, no man has wielded an}' thing like his influ- 
ence in molding opinion in the Episcopal church in these latter 
days. But it was not known except to a few in New York, that in 
addition to his qualities as a man of learning, a writer, and a rea- 
soner, Dr. Thompson also possessed the gifts of a rare popular 
eloquence. He preaches from the altar steps, without note or com- 
ment He is gifted generously with the physical basis of oratory — 
an athletic frame ; a broad deep chest ; a handsome strong face ; a 
leonine head, covered with disordered masses of coal black, curling 
hair, and lightened by a pair of deep brown eyes, with that sad, 
poetical, far away look so peculiar to Irish eyes. His birth may 
account as well for the impassioned headlong flow of an eloquence 
at once fiery and tender, fierce and full of pathos, delivered with a 
voice that sweeps all the gamut of human feeling." 

In all private and public relations Dr. Thompson is well calcu- 
lated to exercise the utmost influence. Socially, he is a genial, 
sincere, and friendly man, drawing every one toward him, while in 
his public duties he is totally without ostentation, and evidently only 
an humble Christian. Hence, the charm of his character and the 
influence of his teachings penetrate not only through the social and 
church circle in which he moves, but they go out to the widest 
limits of the community. 

566 



REV. ALEXANDER R, THOMPSON, D. D. 



PASTOR OF THE NORTH REFOBMED CHURCH, 

BROOKLYN. 




)EV. DR. ALEXANDER R THOMPSON was born in 
the city of New York, October 18th, 1822. He was grad- 
uated at the New York University in 1842, and at the 
Princeton Theological Seminary in 1845. In July of 
he became assistant minister of the Central Reformed 
Church, Brooklyn, but in January, 1846, was installed over the 
First Presbyterian Church, Morristown, N. J., where he remained 
eighteen months. For five months he was engaged in a mission 
work in the eastern section of Brooklyn, under the care of the Board 
of Missions of the Dutch Church. He gathered a small congrega- 
tion, and lots were purchased, and a frame building, for church pur- 
poses, was erected, on the corner of Washington and Grates avenues. 
This property at length fell into the hands of the Baptists, who have 
erected a large church on the site ; and, in fact, Dr. Thompson's 
movement resulted in the formation of several congregations of dif- 
ferent denominations, all of which are now in a flourishing condi- 
tion. 

In March, 1848, Dr. Thompson became pastor of the Reformed 
Church at Tompkinsville, Staten Island, and thus continued until 
September, 1851. He then organized a new church at Stapleton, 
Staten Island, and was its pastor for eight years. In 1859 he went 
to the South Congregation Church, where he remained three years, 
but did not dissolve his connection with the Classis of the Reformed 
Church. He next became the colleague of the late Rev. Dr. George 
W. Bethune, at the Reformed Church in West Twenty-first street, 
New York, in March, 1862, and on the death of that distinguished 
clergyman, at Florence, Italy, later in the same year Dr. Thompson 

567 






REV. ALEXANDER R. THOMPSON, D.D. 

succeeded to the pastorship, in which he remained many years. On 
Sunday, December 28th, 1873, he was installed as the pastor of the 
North Eeformed Church, Brooklyn, where he is now conducting 
his usual efficient work. 

During his ministry he has declined calls to Maine, Albany, Ro- 
chester, Indianapolis, Chicago, San Francisco, Brooklyn (seven 
times), and New York (six times.) He received tbe degree of A. 
M. from Princeton Theological Seminary, in 1845, and the degree 
of D. D. from the New York University, several years since. In 
tbe summer of 1872, he went by the Pacific Railroad to California, 
and traveled extensively in that State. 

Dr. Thompson is of a tall person, pale complexion, and has quite 
a heavy growth of red whiskers. He is a man of restless, nervous ac- 
tivity in both the physical and mental nature. His head is long, 
with marked promiuence in the intellectual portion. He has calm, 
pleasant eyes, and altogether a most expressive face. He talks with 
a great deal of animation, and cheerfulness of tone, and is not only 
very genial, but very interesting. In truth, he has a natural fitness 
for his ministerial work. There is no such thing as being on the 
footing of a stranger with him. You assume social, genial, and even 
intimate relations with him at the very outset of your acquaintance. 
Are you cheerful, his face is radiant with smiles, and he yields him- 
self to the influence of your own spirit. Are you sad, his own 
heart and lips are touched with kindred sympathies. Are you amid 
the scenes of religion, his holy thoughts kindle you with inspiration. 
There is nothing sufficiently formal in his bearing to be called dig- 
nity, but he is always personally impressive. His tall, wiry frame — 
his pale, intellectual face — his gentle, speaking eyes — his hearty 
cordialit}', instantly present him to the perceptions as a man of no 
ordinary character. And it is the same with all that he says. He 
converses with little apparent reflection, and with no effort to make 
any particular exhibition of wisdom, but you readily discover in 
these impulsive, off-hand sentences the most solid and practical opin- 
ions. He has always been a hard worker in the pastoral life. Full 
of enthusiasm in whatever he sets out to do, which is half the battle, 
he toils joyously, and generally triumphantly. When others hesi- 
tate, he pushes forward more boldly, and when others despair, he is 
upheld by confidence. Meek in all else, for his principles, and in 
the path of his duty, he stands lion-hearted. An early convert to 
the religious faith, it grew and strengthened with his maturing life, 

568 



REV. ALEXANDER R. THOMPSON, D. D. 

until he preaches it with not only the power of learning, but the in- 
spiration of blissful hope. 

Dr. Thompson writes an able and elegant sermon. His vigorous, 
and at the same time, highly imaginative mind, displays itself on 
paper in language at once the most forcible and refined. The same 
emotional fervor, which ever links his feelings with his comprehen- 
sion in conversation, appears in every word. His sincerity cannot 
any more be doubted than the striking beauty of his style can fail 
to be appreciated. His delivery is peculiar and very effective. It is 
original in many respects, and eccentric in some particulars, but as 
a whole has a powerful effect upon the hearer. He has a voice of 
much fullness and strength, but it is entirely under his control, and 
is increased or depressed with equi 1 facility. Indeed, his eloquence 
gains no little of its power from the manner in which his voice ranges 
all along the scale of sound, rising from soft mellow tones into loud, 
emphatic utterances, and then again falling away into tender whis- 
pers. He moves about the pulpit a great deal, and gesticulates 
constantly, and sometimes vehemently. Learned, eloquent, pathetic, 
and it may almost be said strangely impressive, he justly has a very 
high reputation in the ministry. 

569 



REV. JOSEPH P. THOMPSON, D. D., 

LATE PASTOR OE THE TABERNACLE CONGRE- 
GATIONAL CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




'EV. DR JOSEPH P. THOMPSON was born in Phila- 
delphia, August 7th, 1819. He was graduated at Yale 
College in 1838, and studied Theology at Andover Col- 
lege and New Haven. In November, 1840, he was 
ordained pastor of the Chapel street Congregational Church, 
New Haven, where he remained five years. He removed to 
New York in April, 1845, having accepted a call to the Broadway 
Tabernacle Church. While in New Haven, Dr. Thompson originated 
The New Englander, a Congregational quarterly review, and he 
was also one of the founders of the Independent. In 1852 he 
devised the plan of the Albany Congregationalist Convention, which 
was the means of giving unity and efficiency to that denomination. 
He has performed most acceptable services as manager of the Ameri- 
can Congregational Union, and of the American Home Missionary 
Society. He sailed for Europe and the East in 1852, and passed 
two years exploring Palestine, Mount Sinai, Egypt, and other 
Oriental countries. After his return he gave much attention to 
Oriental studies, especially Egyptology, and published a great deal 
on the subject in "The North American Eeview," "Bibliotheca 
Sacra," "Journal of the American Geographical and Statistical 
Society," " Smith's Dictionary of Biblical Geography and Antiquities," 
and the revised edition of " Kitto's Cyclopaedia of Biblical Litera- 
ture." 

He received the degree of D. D. from Harvard University, in 
1856. His publications are numerous, including extensive works, 
sermons, and addresses. These may be named — " Memoirs of 
Timothy Dwight," "Lectures to Young Men," "Hints to Employers," 
"Memoir of David Hale," "Foster on Missions, with a Preliminary 
Essay," " Stray Meditations," revised edition, entitled " The Believer's 
Refuge," " The Invaluable Possession," " Egypt, Past and Present," 

570 



REV. JOSEPH P. THOMPSON, D. D. 

:i The Early Witnesses," " Memoir of David T. Stoddard," " The 
Christian Graces," ''Love and Penalty." 

Dr. Thompson was compelled by ill health to resign his pastor- 
ship in 1872. It caused the deepest regret to his congregation, who 
testified their esteem in every possible manner. A liberal pecuniary 
settlement was made upon him. He went immediately abroad to 
resume his Oriental travels and researches. Rev. Dr. Taylor, of 
Liverpool, England, was then called. In 1873 Dr. Thompson 
delivered a series of lectures in Berlin. 

Dr. Thompson is a person of good proportions, thin visage, and 
has straight dark hair and whiskers. He is a student of incessant 
application. His studies extend to many branches out of the range 
of theology, but which present fascinations to him because difficult, 
and as they go to make up completeness in scholarship. Astonished 
by the variety and extent of his reading and research on subjects of 
a profound character, you are still more surprised to find that he is 
familiar with the current and lighter literature fresh from the press. 
Everywhere he gathers knowledge or entertainment, working like a 
bee, and reproducing the varied views of others in his own writings 
as illustrations, and sometimes accompanied with most elaborate 
criticism. His occasional addresses in particular are of the highest 
order of literary merit. There are few who discuss subjects in a 
mode so original and interesting. His thoughts are new, clear, and 
vigorous, never sinking into common-place, failing in interest, or 
losing in eloquence. In the first sentence he attracts you, and when 
he comes to the last has still your delighted ear. His sermons, as 
well as these addresses, are polished compositions, replete with the 
evidence of a practiced and ready pen. He is an impressive speaker. 
He confines himself quite closely to his notes, but speaks with great 
emphasis and power. 

The doctor is very enthusiastic on the subject of the Oriental 
countries. His travels in the East were performed with the ardor of 
a Christian pilgrim to sacred shrines. To awful Mount Sinai, to the 
memorable baptismal waters of the Jordan, and to the banks of the 
wondrous Nile, he wandered, filled with unspeakable veneration. 
He studied the lands thoroughly, and came back to the United 
States an authority in their geography and profound in their history. 
While his energies are fully linked with the glorious progress and 
mighty achievements of his own day, still he gives largely of his 
student hours to unveiling the mysteries with which time has be- 



REV. JOSEPH P. THOMPSON, D. D. 

clouded so much connected with the countries of antiquity. He 
thinks that there can be no greater triumph for the American scholar 
than to make clearer and broader the light which Oriental and 
European minds have already imparted to the subject. Already 
claiming this triumph, but seeking yet greater results, he never grows 
tired of his necessarily laborious investigations. Along the way 
once crowded with the hosts of Israel, in the path sprinkled with a 
Saviour's blood, and amidst the monuments of Egyptian greatness, 
the scholar, born in a new-found world, seeks the renown which is 
to inscribe his own name in imperishable history. 



572 



REV. JOHN THOMSON, D. D., 

PA8TOB OF THE THIRTT-FOCRTH STREET 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEW YORK, 




EV. DR. JOHN THOMSON was born at St. Andrews, 
in Scotland, January 7th, 1819. He was graduated at 
the University of St. Andrews in 1841, and was licensed 
"•jslpr^ ' to preach on the 5th of August the next year, by the 
%3 Presbytery of St. Andrews, of the Established Church of 
Scotland. For several years he resided in the south of Eng- 
land. He performed the duties of a missionary of the Presbytery 
of London, by which body he was ordained to the ministry March 
28th, 1844. In 1843, on the separation of the Free Church from the 
Established Church, the subject of our notice had cast his lot with 
the former. During the spring of 1845, he settled as pastor of the 
Presbyterian Church at Alnwick, Northumberland, England, where 
he remained until 1848. He then removed to St. John's, New 
Brunswick, at which place he organized a Free Church congregation, 
and built the first church of the kind in the lower provinces. In 
1850 he received and declined a call to the Associated Reformed 
Presbyterian Church in Grand street, New York ; but the invitation 
being renewed in the following year, he accepted it, and was installed 
in June, 1851. This congregation was organized in Nassau street in 
1784, when Mr. Hamilton was pastor. They subsequently worshiped 
on the corner of Grand and Mercer streets, but after the installation 
of Dr. Thomson removed to the edifice on the corner of Grand and 
Crosby streets, which was purchased of the Presbyterian congrega- 
tion under the pastorship of Rev. Dr. McElroy. A few years since 
the congregation sold the Grand street property for largely over one 
hundred thousand dollars, and erected a fine edifice on Thirty-fourth 
street, near Sixth avenue and Broadway. 

They are largely composed of old country people, and number 
about one hundred families and some four hundred members. In 1861 
Dr. Thomson accepted a call to the First Presbyterian Church at 

573 



REV. JOHN THOMSON, D. D. 

Gait, in Canada West, then the largest church of the denomination in 
that section of the country. In May, 1864, he returned to his fonner 
people in New York, and still remains with them. His degree of 
D. D. was received from Princeton Seminary in 1854. He has 
published various sermons and addresses, some of which have 
attracted considerable attention abroad. We may mention that Dr. 
Thomson's manuscript sermons are little less than chirographic 
curiosities. So minute and careful is the writing that in some in- 
stances an entire sermon only covers a single letter shee . How such 
cramped and delicate writing is deciphered in a public delivery is 
quite astonishing. Most of the clergy, like other public speakers, 
prepare their manuscripts in a bold, clear hand, and some sermons 
have fallen under our observation which were written in letters of not 
less than half an inch long. 

Dr. Thomson is of the medium height, and rather full though 
not ungraceful proportions. He is muscular, and altogether of the 
strong, well-knit, substantial frame so common among the Scottish 
race. His head is large and round, with a fine intellectual develop- 
ment and a countenance expressive of rigid decision of character, 
but at the same time of much Christian frankness. It is just such a 
face as martyrs wear — one of those that power and dungeons and 
fagots could not soften in a single expression of firmness and devotion 
to duty, and still one that is always radiant with the beams of a 
Heaven-inspired kindness. You will say in an instant, from these 
features, here is a man for great resolution, for sincerity, and zeal 
of purpose, and true heroism under difficulties, and, after all, with a 
heart as gentle as a woman's, and a love as pure and as faithful as 
hers. He is a deeply pious man and an unflinching Christian, and 
while in the practice of his faith he knows but one plain, strict, severe 
line of duty, he is also taught by it a meekness and sympathy ot 
heart which are quite as much the rule of his life. His manners are 
polite and his conversation is free, but he has in both a seriousness 
natural to a person as thoroughly absorbed as himself in the ministe- 
rial work. His thoughts have but one tendency, and that is to the 
most earnest and continued contemplation of religion. He is out- 
spoken in his opinions, and has considerable of that bluntness which 
is also a Scotch characteristic. 

Dr. Thomson preaches very effectively. An excellent scholar, 
and perfectly versed in the Scriptures, he delivers himself with as 
much freedom of speech as depth of thought, and with a pleasing 

574 



REV. JOHN THOMSON, D. D. 

animation. His gestures are few and of the simplest kind ; but his 
whole manner is greatly calculated to give additional impressiveness 
to his religious reasonings. He never departs from a plain, ar- 
gumentative, illustrative style, and his language, always well chosen, 
is particularly forcible in giving a clear and striking view at once of 
man's debasement and God's glory. In truth, the Scotch Presbyterian 
believes and preache3 " the steep and thorny way to Heaven " in its 
fullest and most terrible meaning. Proclaiming the wonderful mercy 
of the Most High and offering praise to His name, this stern religion- 
ist calmly declares to his fellow mortals the mandate against the ac- 
cursed — " Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust thou shalt eat all 
the days of thy life." He presents a faith which it is as hard to 
attain as fearful to neglect, and which arraigns the soul of the fallen 
creature charged with a guilt beyond human comprehension and 
hitman repentance. Holding these views as Gospel truths, the ancient 
Presbyterians of Scotland verified their fidelity to them by lives of 
strict discipline, and by a written covenant which the horrors of per- 
secution only made more sacred. After two centuries and upward, 
their descendants in this far-off land stand as true in doctrine and as 
earnest in maintaining it. Dr. Thomson has all the stubbornness of 
conviction and enthusiastic adherence to his religious principles which 
characterized the olden Covenanters, and, like them, he preaches for 
heavenly and not earthly approval. Asking nothing of men but 
quick repentance and lives of penitence, he walks among them in 
that manner most likely to ensure him success, and his hoped-for 
reward hereafter. 

575 



REY. GEORGE E. THRALL, 

ONE OE THE EDITORS OF THE CHURCH: UNION, 

NEW YORK. 




EV. GEORGE E. THRALL was bom at Circleville, 
Ohio, April 23d, 1829. He was graduated at Kenyon 
College, Gambier, Ohio, in 1849, and at the Virginia 
Theological Seminary, near Alexandria, in 1854. Im- 
mediately after graduation he was made a deacon of the 
iscopal Church, by Bishop Meade, of Virginia, at Christ 
Church, Alexandria, and in the following year he was admitted 
to the priesthood, by Bishop Lee, of Delaware, at the Church of the 
Epiphany. Philadelphia, where he had already settled as assistant of 
the late Rev. Dudley A. Tyng. Mr. Thrall withdrew from the 
parish after a service of two years and three months. He became 
rector of Christ Church, Bridgeport, October 1st, 1859, and thus con- 
tinued nearly three years, when, June 1st, 1862, he assumed the 
rectorship of the Church of the Messiah, Brooklyn. 

Mr. Thrall labored in the parish of the Messiah for ten years. 
His home became a resort for clergymen of all branches of the 
Church, and various plans were laid for effecting a closer fraternity 
between the different denominations. As the Lord's table was con- 
sidered the true center of fellowship, the scheme of Union Com- 
munions was hit upon. The first one was held in the Reformed 
Church in Fifth avenue and Twenty-ninth street, New York. The 
second was held in the Church of the Messiah, and was considered by 
all present as one of the most heavenly meetings ever witnessed upon 
earth. The Union Communions have since been held in hundred of 
towns and villages throughout the country. 

The main idea of the Christian Union Brethren was, that all the 
believers of any given locality formed the Church of that locality ; 
and that, however, numerous were the societies, or varied the forms 
of worship, there was really but one Church in any one place. 

576 



REV. GEORGE E. THRALL. 

In accordance with, this principle, a convention of the Church of 
Brooklyn was called upon the evening of the 28th of June, 1866, at 
the Eeformed Church on the Heights. The spacious edifice was 
crowded with ministers and delegates from nearly all the Protestant 
congregations of the city, and the proceedings were entirely harmo- 
nious, until discord was introduced on the subject of Baptism. The 
assembly dispersed in great sadness, and it was felt that Unity was 
impossible until that question could in some way be arranged. 

Several newspapers have been started. The Church Union, of 
which Mr. Thrall is one of the editors, is the organ of the movement. 

Mr. Thrall, having been always a warm advocate of congregational 
singing, in 1867 edited a book, intended to popularize the music of 
the sanctuary. It was an octavo of 600 pages, and called " The 
Episcopal Common Praise," and has had several editions. 

In the years 1867 and 1868 active measures began to be taken by 
many clergymen for a revision of the Book of Common Prayer, with 
a view to bringing its ritual more into harmony with the worship of 
other Protestant denominations. A committee having been formed 
by the Low Church party to propose such a revision, Mr. Thrall was 
appointed the Secretary, and from that time devoted his efforts to 
the furtherance of that project. Obstacles of every kind intervened. 
Different parties took up the task and laid it aside, and it was soon 
found that participation in this work sacrificed one's influence and 
prospects forever in that communion. At last the labor fell into the 
hands of a few who were willing to give up everything for its success. 
The Bevision was amended over and over again, and finally took the 
shape, not as originally intended, of a Manual for Evangelical Epis- 
copalians, but of a form of service for all Christians who desired a 
Protestant Liturgy. It was called " The Union Prayer Book," and 
by removing all the expressions which savored of Bomanism, by 
presenting an episcopacy extremely modified, by reducing infant 
baptism to a consecration of children to the Lord, it aimed to be 
nothing less than a platform upon which all Protestant Christians 
could unite in offering up prayer and praise to their Heavenly 
Father. 

In anticipation of this result, Mr. Thrall resigned the Church of 
Messiah in April, 1869, and removing to New York, began the 
formation of a new church. This society met for a time in a school- 
room, and in 1870 erected the building, called Emmanuel Church, 

on Fifty-seventh street, near Lexington avenue. Service was first 

577 



REV. GEORGE E. THRALL. 

held in it in January, 1871, and upon the first Sunday in September 
of that year the new Union Prayer Book, which had come from the 
publishers the day before, was introduced as the form of worship, 
Mr. Thrall having previously sent in his resignation to Bishop Potter 
as a Presbyter of the Episcopal church. 

The public were not, however, prepared for the movement, and 
the society, falling into debt, were forced to give up their building, 
and eventually disband. 

Mr. Thrall then turned his attention to the building up of a 
newspaper, which should promote the principles to which he had 
devoted his life. After different changes he established his present 
paper. 

Mr. Thrall is of the medium stature, equally proportioned, and 
active. His head is of fair size, with an intelligent, amiable face. 
He has dark hair and whiskers, and his whole appearance is that of 
good health and vigorous energies. His manners are without osten- 
tation or reserve, and all who approach him are frankly and sincerely 
received. You immediately discover that he is a man wholly natural 
in manners and feelings. What nature made him he is in every 
word and action. Affectation, any assumption of dignity, and all 
those exploits of deportment by which men impress and dumbfound 
their fellows, are his abhorrence. An honest man, an unassuming 
gentleman, an humble clergyman — these, and these alone, are the 
individualities which he seeks to represent. One look at him, and 
the fewest possible words, proclaim all this to you ; and the longer 
you know him and the better you test him, the higher does he rise in 
the scale of a true and exemplary, while modest manhood. 

Mr. Thrall is a clear and forcible writer. He is well calculated to 
do a large amount of valuable service as a clergyman without making 
much noise about it He has no sensation sermons, no courting of one 
interest or another — nothing, in a word, but God's word to speak and 
God's work to do. His sermons have a vividness of truth and a 
gentleness of persuasion which are quite as striking. He speaks in a 
clear, flowing voice, with an easy and impressive manner. Making 
it his whole effort to exalt his calling rather thaD obtrude any talents 
of his own for men's applause, he really presents the strongest claim 
to private regard and public approbation. Both are generously 
awarded him. 

578 



RET. ISAAC H. TUTTLE, D. D., 

bector ojf" st. luithj's episcopal chukch, 

new York;. 




) BY. DR ISAAC H. TUTTLE was bom in the city of 
New Haven about the year 1816. His early studies were 
in that place at a school established on the plan of Mr. 
Lancaster, of England, and conducted by John E. Lovell, 
author of a work on elocution, and at the High School of Amos 
^3 Smith. In 1836 he was graduated at Trinity College, Hartford, 
and in 1839 at the General Episcopal Theological Seminary, New 
York. He was made deacon during the same year by Bishop 
BrowneJl, at Trinity Church, New Haven, and priest in 1840, by the 
same bishop, at Christ Church, Bethlehem, Connecticut. His first 
rectorship was at this church, where he remained live years. Jie 
then went to Christ Church, Hudson, New York, where he officiated 
six years, and then, in June, 1850, came to his present field of labor 
in St. Luke's parish, New York. 

St Luke's parish is one of the old Episcopal congregations of 
New York. At the time of its foundation, the section of the city 
where it is located was known as the village of Greenwich, and was 
a rural suburb, though now far down town and densely populated. 
The first preaching, as an experiment in the neighborhood, was by 
the Rev. George Upfold, in the school-room of Mr. Y. Parker, in 
Amos street The attendance was considerable, and the friends of 
the undertaking were encouraged to organize the parish, which took 
place November 6th, 1820, with twenty persons. Permission was 
obtained from the Common Council to fit up the second story of the 
watch-house, corner of Hudson and Christopher streets, for church 
purposes, where the communion was first administered on Christmas 
day, December 25th, 1820, to sixteen individuals. Dr. Upfold was 
called as rector at a salary of eight hundred dollars a year. A site 
for a church on Hudson street opposite Barrow, (now Grove street,) 

579 



REV. ISAAC H. TUTTLE, D. D. 

the present location of St Luke's, was donated to the parish by 
Trinity Church, and the first steps toward the erection of a suitable 
building were taken in May, 1821. The corner-stone of the church 
was laid in June, 1821, by Bishop Hobart, and bore the following 
inscription: "Glory to God in the Highest! St Luke's Church, 
erected A. D., 1821. Kev. George Upfold, D. Director; Clement 
C. Moore, Edward N. Cox, church wardens ; Nicholas Eoome, Henry 
Ritter, Andrew Backus, John P. Eoome, Floyd Smith, Henry 
Constantine, Donald Cushman, William H. Hanm, vestrymen ; John 
Heath, architect; Richard Kidney, builder." The church was a 
small building, and, being completed, was consecrated by Bishop 
Hobart in May, 1822. 

The immediate rise of the parish was prevented by the want of 
population in the vicinity, there being no dwellings to accommodate 
them. Among the records of the church appears a resolution by 
which it is recommended that capitalists should be induced to build 
houses in that section. The rector leased certain lots of Trinity 
Church at a low rent, and in 1824-5 the " rectory house" and another 
dwelling were erected. After a time Dr. Upfold made an arrange- 
ment to officiate a part of his time in Trinity parish, and procured 
the services of Rev. Mr. Doane, subsequently the distinguished and 
now deceased bishop of the diocese of New Jersey, to preach alter- 
nately with himself at St. Luke's. In February, 1828, Dr. Upfold 
was called to St Thomas' parish, St Luke's at the time having one 
hundred families. Dr. Upfold is now Bishop of Indiana. Rev. Mr. 
Ives was the next rector, and was called at a later period to be 
Bishop of North Carolina, subsequently united with the Roman 
Catholic church, and recently died in New York. Bishop Whitting- 
ham, of Maryland, was for some time rector of the parish, and was 
succeeded by Rev. Dr. Forbes, who also went, for a time, into the 
bosom of the Roman Catholic Church. Dr. Tuttle was the next 
rector, and has now officiated for twenty-three years. It will thus 
be seen that some of the most distinguished names in the Episcopal 
ministry are connected with the history of this venerable parish. 

During the rectorship of Dr. Tuttle the church has been twice 
enlarged, and recently has been modernized and decorated. There 
are about three hundred and seventy-five communicants, and five 
hundred and seventy children in the Sunday School. Connected 
with the parish is an institution known as St. Luke's Home, which 
is a retreat for indigent aged Christian women. 

580 



EEV. ISAAC H. TUTTLE, D. D. 

Dr. Tuttle received his degree of D. D. from Trinity College in 
1863. 

He is a little below the medium height, sparely made, but stands 
very erect, and has a quick step. His head is small, with regular 
features, and a forehead which shows him to be a person of con- 
siderable mental caliber. In his manners he is free and entirely un- 
restrained, and equally frank in speech. More than this, there is a 
great deal of cheerfulness about him, and he has, in fact, all those 
qualities which do most to promote good fellowship in social inter- 
course. 

Social life, cultivated though it may be, is, after all, very much 
like a den of half-tamed animals. The laws of courtesy, impartial 
and strict as they are, have really less potency than appears to the 
casual observer. There is an outward show of civility and good 
feeling, and of regard for the demands of social propriety ; but it is 
to a considerable extent a mere cloak, covering up hideous sins be- 
neath it. Men shake hands and hate each other in their hearts, and 
women kiss and trip off to their "school for scandal." In the most 
brilliant throngs, every demon which human malignity and envy 
can summon is present in human bosoms, and where there are noble 
words and smiles there are whispered insults and sneers. Few men 
and few women there are who can rise to a perfection of courtesy 
and charity, which will keep down these struggles of the baser nature 
to do evil in thought or act to our neighbor. Few there are who 
can be called popular men and women, because they are silent when 
they cannot praise. 

But these almost strange elements of character are fully illustrated 
in the excellent man of whom we write. He is the friend and de- 
lightful associate of all. He never seems to be looking for those 
foibles and weaknesses which in social life are the targets of so many 
jests and sneers. But he is genuine and hearty in his friendship and 
love — manly and warm in his greetings and attentions. It is not 
the shallow courtesy of society — not the silken paw of the tiger with 
the claws hidden within — but it is the outpouring of the honest 
heart. It is not that hypocrisy and sham which every day are dis- 
covered to the eyes of men in the conduct of their fellows, and which 
make the heart sick, but it is that kindness and nobleness of soul 
which draw man to man in the true brotherhood of his race. 

Dr. Tuttle is a preacher of much power with the masses. This 

does not come from any particular display, but from the same pecu- 

581 



REV. ISAAC H. TUTTLE, D. D. 

liarities of character which are observable in his private life. His 
mode of address is entirely moderate, and his language is plain while 
forcible. But his greatest influence is in the dispassionate, calm, 
and evidently just manner in which he makes all his statements, and 
the tender and affectionate manner in which he seeks to reach the 
convictions of his hearers. It is not to the superior intelligence of a 
few, or to the keen susceptibilities of others, that he appeals with 
such power, but it is to ail those who have an aspiration for a purer 
life, or a stricter observance of religious duty. He does not preach 
to dazzle the mind or to stir the heart, but he makes beautiful the 
way of faith, and tenderly leads the steps thitherward. Hence the 
influence of his preaching is boundless with such as are found in the 
sanctuary. 

Dr. Tuttle in his rectorship has followed a line of illustrious 
clergymen of the Episcopal church. They marked out and estab- 
lished a work in St Luke's parish on a broad foundation, not only 
of religious effort but of public good. In all respects he has followed 
in their footsteps, and neither the changes of population nor the in- 
crease of Episcopal parishes have particularly affected this. Strong 
in numbers, earnestly engaged in its educational and philanthropic 
work for the advancement of every interest about it, there has been 
no abatement of the vigor which characterized its earlier history. 



582 








^_ *fe r 



? 



RET. STEPHEN H. TYNH, D. D.. 

RECTOR OF ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH, NEW 

YORK. 




EV. DR STEPHEN" H. TYNG was bom at Newbury- 
port, Mass., March 1st, 1800. At the age of seventeen he 
was graduated at Harvard College, and for two years was 
engaged in mercantile pursuits. He began the study 
of theology under Bishop Griswold, in 1819, and was ordained 
a deacon of the Episcopal church at Bristol, Khode Island, 
March 4th, 1821. He labored for two years at Georgetown, D. C, 
and for six in Queen Anne's parish, Prince George's county, Mary- 
land. In May, 1829, he removed to Philadelphia, and became rector 
of St. Paul's Church. The degree of D. D. was conferred upon him 
by Jefferson College in 1832, and by Harvard in 1851. In 1833 he 
was called to the Church of the Epiphany, in Philadelphia. The 
death of the venerable and learned Dr. Milnor having created a 
vacancy in St. George's parish, New York, Dr. Tyng succeeded him 
in 1845, and still remains in the same extended field of duty. After a 
few year's a magnificent church was constructed on the corner of 
Rutherford Place and East Sixteenth street. Rev. Stephen H. Tyng, 
Jun., is a distinguished living son. Dr. Tyng has a number 
of published works, the variety of which may be judged by the 
following titles: "Lectures on the Law and Gospel," "Recollections 
of England," "Family Commentary on the Pour Gospels," " History 
of Ruth, the Moabitess," " Esther, the Queen of Persia," " The Child 
of Prayer " (a memorial to his son, Rev. Dudley A. Tyng), " Forty 
Years' Experience in Sunday Schools," &c, &c. 

During twenty-one years of the existence of St George's Sunday 
school in this city, under the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Tyng, that organi- 
zation raised and disbursed $63,985, including the building of two 
churches in Africa — one in Monrovia, of stone, and one in Caldwell, 
of brick, $12,000 ; building and furnishing the chapel of Free Grace in 
East Nineteenth street, $18,000 ; building and furnishing the German , 

583 



KEV. STEPHEN H. TYNG, D. D. 

chapel in Fourteenth street, together with the purchase of the lot on 
which it stands, $12,000 ; building two schoolhouses in Africa, one 
at Monrovia, and one at Caldwell, $1,500; annual support of the 
parish missions of St. George's Church, including the Mission Schools' 
contributions to anniversaries, always returned to them, $7,500 ; all 
the chancel furniture of St. George's Church, when it was rebuilt, 
including the pulpit, desk and font, and partly the clock, $9,000 , 
domestic missions in the United States, through the American Church 
Missionary Society, $1,500 ; The Shepherd's Fold, an institution for 
poor infant children, in Eighty-sixth street and Second avenue, 
$1,300 ; education of young men for the ministry, $500 ; incidentals, 
$1,185. The parish embraces a congregation large, wealthy, and in- 
fluential. 

Dr. Tyng is one of the most learned and eloquent men in the 
Episcopal church. His mind, of such ripeness in mere youth, has 
constantly expanded under the twin benefits of research and experi- 
ence. While he has sought to sip the sweets of popularity, he 
has made learning, piety, and zeal the foundation of his renown ; 
consequently his studies have been most diligent throughout his 
career, and his gladness is to know that they can never be completed 
in the period of a human life. As with other scholars, the explora- 
tion of one mine of lore only opens the path to other treasures 
beyond. Dr. Tyng has not been satisfied with theological studies 
alone, and is a man of varied learning. The theories of government 
and the history of empires have greatly commanded his attention, 
and to such a degree that he is of the few Episcopal clergymen who 
have mingled in the political discussions of the day. In this matter, 
as in all others, he is firm, earnest, and conscientious. Convinced 
in his own mind of the propriety, wisdom, and importance of any 
line of action, it requires overpowering reasons to alter his purpose. 
He is borne on a tide of enthusiasm. New reasons to sustain him 
come every day like favoring winds, and his eye is ever watching for 
the haven which his convictions have promised him. He is slow to 
launch himself upon any untried sea of opinion ; but, once afloat, he 
will courageously breast the wildest storm. 

But the love and heartiest enthusiasm of Dr. Tyng is of course 
for his particular faith. He is in no measure a bigot, but is joyous 
beyond expression that he stands a believer, a member, and a 
preacher within the pale of the Episcopal church. Her doctrines are 
his sure anchor, her example is his boast, her history is the record 

584 



REV. STEPHEN H. TYNG, D. D. 

of God's own work, and her glory is the brightness of the earth. He 
has followed every foot-print of the Lord; he has walked in triumph 
and trial with the apostles and martyrs ; he has marked the progress 
of the modern church, and now raises his voice to glorify her faith, 
and, appointed by that Lord and anointed by those saints, he pro- 
claims himself her ambassador to men. With a heart made tender 
by penitence, he binds up the wounds of those seeking religious 
healing, and with a soul inspired of Heaven he beats his blows upon 
Satan. The heart of the poor sinner, the seeker for Christ, is a lost 
jewel to be saved for the crown of the church ; but the head of the 
devil must be bruised and slashed with the sword of the Deity. In 
this work Dr. Tyng never falters. No discouragements affect him, 
no monster of sin can intimidate him. He is always searching the 
battle-field of life's conflicts for the maimed and dying — day and 
night he is crossing weapons with the adversary. His is eminently a 
successful ministry, illustrated all along by souls re-born, and by an 
unweariness in well-doing. 

Observe Dr. Tyng in his pulpit. He is a straight, stiff-appearing 
person, with a composed countenance and penetrating eyes. His 
forehead is broad ; and the whole molding of his head highly in- 
tellectual. He at once impresses a stranger as being a man of re- 
markable ability, and a single sentence from him is sufficient to prove 
it His words are sentences, his sentences are sermons, his sermons 
are volumes. There is no effort for effect in his language, no studied 
selection of words, no obtuseness as to meaning ; but in the discussion 
of his themes his pen seems to cull the most expressive words in 
w T hich are traced the most vigorous and beautiful thoughts, adapted 
as much to the comprehension of the child as to the enlightenment 
of the matured person. He is formal both in matter and manner, 
and is rather a reader than an orator. To be sure he is eloquent. He 
uses imagery, and is warmer at times than at others ; but, neverthe- 
less, he does not, like some who are true orators, soar away, with; 
voice and sense and soul, into the regions which his thought is de- 
scribing. With Dr. Tyng, the delivery of a sermon is an effective, 
eloquent reading, rather than anything which might be considered an 
oratorical display. He has great dignity of bearing, a smooth, but 
decided voice, polished periods, and sterling thought; but there is 
none of that lightning of the tongue which flashes from perceptioTi 
to perception, or of that thunder which startles down into the very, 
soul. The doctor follows the more sedate pulpit style usual and 

585 



REV. STEPHEN H. TYNG, D. D. 

popular in the Episcopal church. His chaste words, urged with 
sincerity, devoted ness, and piety, fall rich fruit to the inquirer, the 
devout, and the intellectual. To the first, they make light from 
darkness; to the second, they invigorate with strengthened hope; 
and to the third, the}' are the luscious product of the tree of scholar- 
ship. 

But when Dr. Tyng puts aside his gown, and steps out on the 
platform for secular speech -making, he is a new man. He is not 
walled about by church discipline or Episcopalian propriety, and he 
is not tied tongue and hands by forms and customs. Well, he stands 
up as straight as an arrow, and as stiff as his own well-starched shirt- 
collar. His eyes see everything and everybody : his look hushes the 
audience into the stillness of the tomb ; and his introductory words 
are well measured. Presently the words flow quicker and his feel- 
ings begin to act like fuel to thaw the ice in which the church has 
congealed him. He has humor, sarcasm, denunciation, electrical 
words and gestures. He mangles sophistries with his tongue as a 
wolf would a lamb ; he sweeps away resistance as water-falls dc 
chips of wood ; he spurns wrong-minded men as kings do beggars. 

At seventy-three years, Dr. Tyng finds himself thus vigorous for 
labor in the church and the world. In his prime of intellectual 
power, mighty with all the influence which his public and exalted 
life has brought to him, he may well be considered as one of the most 
useful clergymen of the day. All enterprises of his church — those 
of charity, philanthropy, and education— have in him a zealous 
friend. The Sunday school is another delight. He was greatly 
enwrapt in a talented son, who, although young, was prominent in 
the ministry, and who came to his death by a heart-rending ac- 
cident. His memory is embalmed in the affecting and eloquent 
memorial of his father, to whom his decease was an almost over- 
powering blow. The son was a model of manly and Christian 
graces, acquired by a close study of the example of the father ; and 
the shadow which fell upon the life of the last is even now only re- 
moved by the monuments which remain of the young minister's 
faith and works, and more especially by his brilliant flight from 
earth Looking to that coming hour in his own destiny, Dr. Tyng 
has but one purpose in all his efforts, which is, so to guide his steps 
that his end may be peaceful and triumphant, like that of the saint 
who has gone before. 

586 



KEY. STEPHEN H. TING, JR., D. D., 

RECTOR OE THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY 
TRINITY (EPISCOPAL), NEW FORK. 




>EV. DR STEPHEN H. TYNG, JR, is the son of the 

distinguished rector of St. George's Chapel, New York, 
and brother of the late Kev. Dudley A. Tyng, a leading 
rector of Philadelphia, who lost his life by an accident 
was born in Philadelphia, June 28th, 1839. Entering 
Williams College he was graduated in 1858, and would have 
completed his theological course at the Episcopal Seminary in Fair- 
fax county, "Va,, had not the opening of the war obliged him to leave 
the State. During his theological studies he had charge of a Mission 
church at Georgetown, D. C. He was ordained deacon May 8th, 
1861, at St George's Chapel, and priest at Poughkeepsie, September 
11th, 1863. From May, 1861, to May, 1862, he was assistant to his 
father, and then accepted the rectorship of the Church of the 
Mediator. He subsequently organized a new parish up town, under 
the title of the Church of the Holy Trinity, and a tasteful edifice 
was erected on the corner of Forty-second street and Madison avenue, 
and consecrated in 1865. He soon gathered a numerous and in- 
fluential congregation. 

Early in 1873 the old church was torn down, and on. Trinity 
Sunday, June 8th, 1873, the corner-stone of the present imposing 
edifice of the congregation on the same site was laid. At the last 
meeting in the old church Dr. Tyng gave the following statement of 
the work of the church since their organization : — baptisms, 768 ; 
confirmations, 511 ; funerals, 438 ; marriages, 212 ; communicants, 
1,300 ; Sunday school children and teachers, 1,863 ; contributions to 
the poor and general offerings, $18,529 ; domestic missions, $11,464; 
and all collections made during the nine years, $519,000. 

They support five mission churches in different parts of the city, 
and also maintain a college, or " House of the Evangelists," for the 
education of young men for the city mission work. These enter- 

587 



REV. STEPHEN H. TING. JR., D. D. 

prises cost the Church of the Holy Trinity about twenty thousand 
dollars annually, to which also must be added a dispensary connected 
with the church, which is supported at a cost of fifteen hundred 
dollars a year, and where two physicians give advice and medicine 
freely day by day. Several beds in St. Luke's Hospital are also en- 
dowed by this church. The "Pastoral Aid Society" comprises 
nearly all the membership of the church, male and female. 

As chaplain of the Twelfth Eegiment, N. Y. S. M., Dr. Tyng 
accompanied the regiment to Harrisburg, when the New York troops 
were called to the defence of the bordei". 

Dr. Tyng was reported to the standing committee of his diocese, 
charged by a New Jersey rector with having preached in the parish 
of said rector without his consent, in violation of a canon of the 
Episcopal Church. After trial, he was publicly censured by the 
Bishop. This matter, however, has in no way affected Dr. Tyng's 
character or influence. 

Dr. Tvng received his degree of D. D. from Williams College in 
July, 1872. 

He is about of the average height, and equally proportioned. 
His complexion is fair, and his cheeks are ruddy with youthfulness 
and health. He has a peculiarly expressive, beaming face, and a 
bright, intelligent eye, which reflects every thought. He is of a 
quick, nervous temperament, and very zealous in his Christian work. 
He has genial, fascinating manners, and there is a frankness and 
sincerity about him which secure fast friendships. While as a young 
man of talent he is not at all backward or awkward in any position, 
still he always conducts himself with dignity and deference for his 
elders. 

As a preacher he is decidedly able. It is fully evident that his 
desire is to establish a fame based on substantial acquirements rather 
than sensational eccentricities. He has been and is a painstaking 
student, and modesty as to his own merits is a most conspicuous 
characteristic. He is ambitious and not at all loth to press forward 
to places of dignity and preferment in his profession, but advance- 
ment is not sought without he proves his qualifications and claims 
for it Of a bold, impulsive spirit, he is free with his opinions and 
unsparing in his rebuke of all sinfulness, but at the same time he is 
careful to guard himself against everything like presumption, ar- 
rogance, and self-sufficiency. He recognizes the important fact, which 
is lost sight of by so many young clergymen, that he has a present 

588 



REV. STEPHEN' H. TYNG, JR., D. D. 

station becoming to his years and ability, which it is altogether honor- 
able to fill meritoriously. Exerting all his talents, and still showing 
a most humble appreciation of them, he best proves how capable he 
will be when he shall wield the full strength which he is gathering. 

Dr. Tyng is one of the most acceptable readers of the church 
service in the New York pulpit. He reads with eloquent intonation, 
and imparts to it great fervor — it seems a pleasing and holy occu- 
pation with him, and in the prayers especially he appears to rise 
away into celestial realms. To the young Christian enthusiast the 
service certainly presents a most touching appeal to all the sus- 
ceptibilities of the believing heart, and in the case of Dr. Tyng the 
effect is to render his delivery almost strangely impressive. He moves 
with his own soul filled with kindred emotions, and he kindles the 
inextinguishable fires of faith. This power over the the feelings of 
his audience is not lost in his sermon ; there is the same earnestness, 
sinceritjr, and pious seriousness. Being a fluent speaker, often much 
that he says is extempore — at such times his face is all animation, his 
soft, persuasive voice steals to every heart, and he pleads with the 
irresistible powers of eloquence and religious inspiration. His lan- 
guage does not degenerate into outbursts of poetic rhapsody, and the 
misty vaporings of an undisciplined mind, but, on the contraiy, it is 
practical, logical, and convincing. 

Such are the terms in which it is proper to speak of this talented 
young clergyman. He is a patient laborer in the field of moral and 
religious duty and an example of pure and lofty virtues. Time and 
years will bring him matured talent, enlarged experience, and in- 
creased influence, but the present period has been made illustrious by 
the exhibition of all the elements of a sterling Christian character. 

589 



REY. HENRY J. YM DYKE. D. D., 

PA8TOB OF THE FIRST PKESBYTEBIAN 
CHURCH, BROOKLYN. 




)EV. DE. HENRY J. VAN DYKE was born in Mont- 
gomery county, Pennsylvania, March 2d, 1822. He was 
graduated at the University of Pennsylvania in 1S43, and 
also studied at Yale College. His theological course was 
concluded at Princeton Seminary in 1845, and his ordination 
took place in June of the same year. He was installed pastor 
of the Presbyterian Church at Bridgeton, New Jersey, where he 
remained until compelled to leave, from ill health, in 1852. In 
July of this year he settled in Germantown, and remained about one 
year, going in June, 1853, to Brooklyn, to become pastor of his 
present church, the First Presbyterian, one of the former Old School 
churches. Immediately after his college course he edited a collegi- 
ate magazine, and subsequently contributed to various literary pub- 
lications. During a visit to Europe, in 1857, he furnished the New 
York Presbyterian with a series of very graphic sketches of travel. 
His congregation has largely increased under his ministry, and in 
the same period a debt of thirty thousand dollars has been paid, and 
some sixty thousand dollars contributed for benevolent objects. 

On the evening of Sunday, the 9th of December, 1860, Dr. Van 
Dyke preached one of the most remarkable sermons ever delivered 
in the American pulpit, under the title of " The Character and In- 
fluence of Abolitionism." The murky clouds of civil strife were 
already stretching across the political firmament of great, prosper- 
ous, and, in other respects, happy America. Geographical antipa- 
thies, misrepresentations, and passion had combined to array the 
North and South in an attitude of dangerous hostility. At this 
momentous h ur, Dr. Van Dyke stepped forth as an expounder of 
the Scriptures on the subject of Slavery. The sermon delivered un- 
der these impressive circumstances is devoted to the discussion of 
four points. 

590 



REV. HENRY J. TiN DYKE, D. D. 

" I have four distinct propositions on the subject to maintain," 
says Dr. Yan Dyke — " four thesis to nail up over this pulpit and 
defend with the word of God, which is the sword of the Spirit. 

" I. Abolitionism has no foundation in the Scriptures. 

" II. Its principles have been promulgated chiefly by misrepre- 
sentation and abuse. 

" III. It leads, in a multitude of cases, and by a logical process, 
to infidelity. 

" IV. It is the chief cause of the strife that agitates, and the dan- 
ger that threatens our country." 

The sermon is written throughout in language of commanding 
power and lofty eloquence. It gave great satisfaction to the conser- 
vatives in every part of the country. They claimed that the whole 
question in regard to abolitionism was gone over, and argued with 
the ability of the scholar, the impassioned fervor of the orator, and 
the zeal of the true patriot. 

The discourse was reported for the leading papers, and extensively 
republished North and South. A committee of the congregation 
requested a copy for publication in pamphlet form, and the first edi- 
tion of five thousand copies was immediately exhausted. The 
Messrs. Appleton, of New York, published a stereotyped edition, 
and other editions appeared in the principal cities. In all there were 
eleven pamphlet editions, and it was published in full in more than 
twenty newspapers. 

It received much critical attention from the abolitionists. The 
Anti-Slavery Standard treated its reader to " literal extracts," as the ser- 
mon was to be regarded "as an illustration of the popular Christianity of 
the United States — the Christianity for rejecting which the abolition- 
ists are denounced as infidels." Professor Taylor Lewis opened his 
batteries in the New York World, and a lengthy discussion arose 
between himself and Dr. Yan Djdce. An indignant reply was made 
by Rev. Dr. Leonard Bacon, of New Haven, in a sermon entitled 
"The Jugglers Detected." 

Other published sermons by Dr. Van Dyke are " Moses, the Ser- 
vant of the Lord ; '•' " How Old art Thou? " " The Commandment, 
with Promise;" "The Conversion of Saul;" " Politics for Christ- 
mas ; " " Giving Thanks for All Things ; " " The Character and 
Blessedness of the Peacemaker." These sermons all show much 
originality of thought, clearness of expression, and earnest eloquence. 
In 1870 Dr. Yan Dyke was prominent in the movement for the 

591 



BEV. HENRY J. VAN DYKE, D. D. 

re-unioii of the Northern and Southern Presbyterian Church. He 
was one of a Committee of the General Assembly, convened at 
Philadelphia, who were sent to the General Assembly in session at 
Louisville. As is well known, the movement was a failure. Dr. 
Van Dyke published a pamphlet on the subject. In all the assem-* 
bjages of the church he is regarded as an authority on doctrine and 
discipline. 

During 1872, after the faithful labors of nineteen years, he re- 
signed his pastorship over the First Church of Brooklyn, and accepted 
a call to a leading Presbyterian Church of Nashville, Tennessee. 
His separation from his old congregation was characterized by intense 
feeling of grief on both sides. He went abroad before entering per- 
manently upon his duties in Nashville, and on his return, when 
about to undertake them, the serious illness of his wife rendered it 
necessary for him to remain in or about New York. Under these 
circumstances, the First Church immediately gave him a call to re- 
sume his pastorship with them, which he finally accepted. Much to 
the advantage of all parties, the former relations were renewed, pro- 
bably not to be broken again in the lifetime of this long-tried shep- 
herd of the flock. 

Dr. Van Dyke is under the medium height, his complexion is 
pale, and he wears heavy whiskers. His face has an amiable, cheerful 
expression, and when animated is as radiant as the day. His look 
is fixed and penetrating, while his conversation and actions evince 
quickness and impulsiveness. He is very cordial with all, ardent in 
his friendship and sympathies, and has a courage for all things 
which is sublime. Those who know him best say he is a modern 
John Knox. He fears only God. Armed in what he believes to be 
a just cause, there is nothing on earth that can intimidate him. Ca- 
lumny, insults, threats are utterly idle. He will not turn or yield 
a hair's breadth ; but, on the contrary, keeps more strictly and de- 
fiantly in the path he has chosen. 

He is a very effective speaker. His voice is strong and harmo- 
nious, and h3 displays that style of vigorous reasoning which is at 
once proof of sincerity and ability. A man of a thoroughly religious 
nature and deeply learned in the Scriptures, he preaches with strik- 
ing powers of pathos and logic. The heart is melted, and the head 
is instructed ; you are lifted into the spiritual atmosphere of the 
eloquent speaker, and the truths of salvation fall as balm upon the 
tossed and wounded souL 

592 






REV. THOMAS E. VERMILYE, D. D., LL. D., 

oive oe the pa-stors oe the collegiate 

refokmed ciiurch, new" york. 




>EV. DR. THOMAS E. VERMILYE was born in the 
city of New York in February, 1803. He was graduated 
at Yale College in 1821, and studied theology at Prince- 
Spr^ ' ton College. He was licensed as a Presbyterian minis- 
ter, by the Presbytery of New York, in April, 1825, and after 
ordination by the same Presbytery he was installed pastor of 
the Presbyterian Church in Vandewater street, New York, in Janu- 
ary, 1826. In May, 1830, he became pastor of the Congregational 
Church of the first parish, West Springfield, Mass., and in May, 1835,' 
he settled over the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in the city 
of Albany. He removed to New York in 1839, to take the position 
of one of the pastors of the Collegiate Dutch Church, which he still 
holds, standing next in length of service to the senior pastor. Rev. 
Dr. De Witt. He received the degree of D. D. both from Rutgers 
College and Union College, in 1836, and the degree of LL. D. from 
Jefferson College, in 1856. He has published various occasional 
sermons. He preaches in each of the churches once in five weeks. 

The following eloquent extracts are from a discourse commemora- 
tive of the late Rev. Dr. Wm. Brownlee, delivered in the Middle 
Dutch Church on the evening of Sunday, February 19th, 1860. 
******* ******** 

" On the Mount of Ascension it was boldly declared to the awe-stricken multi- 
tude, in most emphatic words : ' This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into 
heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.' Now, 
these and kindred passages teach us several truths in relation to this subject. As 
that heaven, far distant as it would seem from the atmosphere of our earth, is yet 
a place which such a body as Jesus took with him from earth, the pattern of the 
resurrection body, can inhabit. Also, that from that place Christ shall transfer him- 
self to earth in person: ' The Lord himself shall descend.' Once before he was 
personally in our world, the babe of Bethlehem, the Man of Sorrows, to make pro- 
pitiation for sin. But, since He rose from Olivet, no mortal eye has rested upon 

593 



REV. THOMAS E. VEEM1LTE, D. D.. LL.D. 

that glorious form. He has not, indeed, lost interest in His mediatorial office, noi 
forgotten His ransomed ones in this remote region, the speck amidst the assemblage 
of worlds. But He now chooses to carry on His work by subordinate instrumental- 
ity : sometimes by special agents raised up in emergencies of His providence for 
deeds of special significance, but ordinarily by His regular ministers and the ap- 
pointed means of grace. But then these means will have accomplished their 
purpose, and will have come to an end. He will delegate none of His ministering 
servants nor mighty angels to stand in His place ; but, attended by the heavenly 
hosts, the Captain of our salvation shall Himself descend to close the scene of time 
and earth, and bring His children home in glory. Again, it will be a visible ap- 
pearance. They shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds. An objection at 
once occurs to the mind that, should the Lord appear on any particular part of the 
globe, He would not hi seen by all its inhabitants, but only by a very small number 
at the same time. But it is not said He shall come upon the earth, but that the 
saints shall be gathered to Him in the air. Nor is it affirmed that all shall behold 
Him at the same instant of time. It is not improbable that this spectacle may ap- 
pear successively to the different tribes of men, as the earth revolves on its axis ; 
that the raising of the dead and the process of judgment, whatever it may be, then 
to succeed and t'.ie preparation of the saints for their ascent, in proper order, to the 
air, may occupy some considerable space of time. But, however this may be, and 
we are left very much to conjecture in regard to these particulars, it is positively 
said that 'every eye shall see Him,' and that 'all kindreds of the earth shall wail 
because of Him.' Again, it will be sudden and unexpected— 'at an hoar when ye 
think not,' saith the Scripture. From the description given by the Saviour, we may 
•also conclude that it will be at midnight, ' when mankind are wrapped in sleep.' 
And it will be ushered in with the pomp of a mighty retinue of angels, and accom- 
panying splendor of circumstances, to give splendor and impressiveness to the scene. 
At that period the business and j>leasure of life will go on just as it always had 
done. Men will eat and drink, and marry and be given in marriage, and buy and 
sell and get gain. They will also resign themselves on that night to sleep, in full 
confidence that the nightly firmament will roll away its myriads of stars, and that 
the sun, which, for thousands of years, has never varied its course, nor withheld 
the dawn, will briug in a new morning. But suddenly the watchman beholds a 
strange sight ! Far off in the fields of space, unusual light appears. It hastens 
toward the earth, and as it comes 'the sign of the Son of Man ' glares out from the 
dark background. What is it ? It is a vast radiant cross, the instrument of His 
sufferings, now tinned into the standard of victory, that all may recognize the 
meaning of the prodigy ! The vision halts in the air, and there Jesus ; once the 
Man of Sorrows, now the King and Judge, takes his place : the attendant angels 
wheel their mighty squadrons into line to grace His coming — from the innumerable 
throng goes up 'a shout' as when an army rushed to conquest — the voice of the 
archangel leader and the trump of God peal through the expanse, and that night is 
turned into 'such a day as earth saw never.' 



"And now the promise of Christ's coming is redeemed. Through the cycles of 
intervening ages His suffering Church longed and prayed for it. From the stake, 
from the deep dungeon, from the caves and dens of the earth, whither persecution 
had driven them, went up the bitter cry — 'How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost 
Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth. ' And infi- 

594 



REV. THOMAS E. VERMILYE, D. D., L L. D. 

dels mocked the long delay and scoffed the faith of the sainis, saying : 'Where is 
the promise of his coming ? ' And He seemed not to regard their complaints, nor 
did he send deliverance ; and disappointment and woe sometimes awakened fearful 
doubts ; 'Hath God forgotten to be gracious?' Is this Bible true? Is there 'a God 
that judgeth in the earth?' Yet He was faithful that had promised, although His 
plan must be developed in the appointed order. And now the days of man on earth 
have run their course — the full scheme is accomplished — the set time has come, and 
there, at last, He is. The consummation, the destined end of all things, is at 
hand : ' lift up your heads, ye saints, and sing, for your redemption drawtth 
nigh.' " 

Dr. Vermilye is now a well-preserved, gray-haired gentleman of 
seventy years of age. He is of the medium stature, compactly built, 
and, to all appearance, still hale and vigorous. He has a large, round 
head, with handsome, well-defined features. He would he noticed 
in any assemblage of men as a person of brilliant, intellectual capa- 
city. His face has a calm, noble expression, and he has that dignified 
reserve common to the ministers of the earlier period. Being quite 
deaf, he naturally gives very close attention to any remarks made to 
him, and his face has a serious aspect, but when himself engaged in 
conversation, a glow of animation pervades it At all times he 
seems to incline to be meditative, and he delights in instructive and 
scholarly discourse, though he is not uninfluenced by cheerful and 
genial associations. He is a man of deep conscientiousness, a studied 
regard for propriety in all things, and of great fixedness of purpose. 

Hi'. Yermilye has extensive acquirements as a theological scholar, 
and altogether a finely cultivated mind. His writings are charac- 
terized by a fascinating purity of language and much originality of 
thought. They are eloquent, clear, and at times pathetic. Coming 
from a mind imaginative as well as logical, they exhibit powerful 
reasoning decked in the attractive garb of an eloquent, pleasing 
fancy. There is an entire absence of everything that is florid and 
extravagant, but the inspiration of a majestic eloquence and the light 
of a glowing imagination are present in every word. Without the 
appearance of a special effort in the elaboration of the subject, and 
without making the discourse any the less argumentative, he grasps 
the higher conceptions of the intellect, and weaves them into the 
more eloquent forms of expression. And this is not merely true as 
regards a few themes, to which more attention may have been given, 
but it is equally so with reference to every sermon or address that 
he prepares. His pen is always bold, vigorous, and eloquent, and he 
imparts original and striking views on even the most ordinary sub 

595 



REV. THOMAS E. VERMILYE, DC, L L. D. 

jects. He seems to recognize the fact that a sermon, if worth writing 
at all, deserves to be well written, and hence gives to his own not only 
reflective preparation, but scholarly finish. From the intelligent 
reader they claim the most profound respect for their valuable, im- 
pressive thoughts, and with the listener they awaken the emotions 
which polished rhetoric and effective oratory are certain to arouse. 

Dr. Vermilye has a smooth, pleasant voice, though at intervals it 
is deficient in clearness and strength. He is particularly gifted iu 
prayer. There is nothing unusual in his manner when preach- 
ing, nothing calculated for a moment to distract the attention of the 
listener from the subject to the individual. But there is something 
quite unusual in the intellectual feast with which he entertains you. 
The pure gold of the mind glitters in his methodically delivered 
words, and wisdom itself speaks in your ear. You hasten to obliter- 
ate from your memory the froth and the trash gathered from the 
preachers of the sensational, sentimental sort, and bow the intelligence 
to the dominion of brains, happy to escape once more from the fas- 
cination of brass. 

596 



REV. ANTOINE VERREN, D. D., 

KECTOR OE THE FRENCH CHURCH, T>TJ ST. 

ESPRIT, (EPISCOPAL), NEW YORK. 




'EV. DE. ANTOINE VEEEEN was born in Marseilles, 
France. He was graduated at an early age at the Lyceum 
of Marseilles, and subsequently continued his studies in 
Geneva, showing a great taste for Latin and Greek litera- 
ture and philosophical researches. Such was his proficiency at 
the end of two years, that the Faculte de Th eologie conferred upon 
him the title of tutor, and placed under his charge such of his fellow- 
countrymen as were yearly arriving at Geneva to complete their 
studies, that they might pass the requisite examination in the Greek. 
He entered the Auditore de Theologie in 1821, pursuing his studies in 
the same chapel of St. Peter's Cathedral, renowned as the spot where 
the illustrious Calvin, some three hundred years before, lectured the 
students coming from all parts of Europe. During the first year he 
was appointed to the honorary position of librarian of the Students' 
Library, which he held until the termination of his studies, and in 
the second year obtained the appointment of Preteur, the holder of 
which office is required for six months to read, when called upon, 
portions of the church service in the different Protestant churches 
of the city, and to preach in the country churches. There were 
forty or fifty students to compete with young Verren, but he ob- 
tained the position three times in the four years. The arrival of va- 
cation term gave him an opportunity to visit Marseilles and Lyons, 
in both of which places he preached two sermons prepared for the 
faculty before large and delighted audiences. He passed the severe 
ordeal of the final examination in the fourth year with entire success, 
retaining his place at the head of his class. He was ordained to the 
ministry in August, 1825. Eecovering from sickness induced by 
his application to study, he spent some time in rural relaxation, 
preaching occasionally to crowded congregations. His ability was 

fully recognized by learned and influential persons, and he was 

597 



REV. ANTOINE VERREN, D. D. 

offered several advantageous positions, and at length accepted a 
vacancy at Ferney. 

Dr. Verren received an invitation to visit the castle of Ferney 
on the occasion of the arrival of Louis Philippe, then Duke of 
Orleans. 

Among the other distinguished acquaintances were the brave 
General Huart, an officer under Napoleon, Baron de Stael, and 
Count de Sellon, the originator in Europe of the Peace Societies, and 
author of a variety of learned works. 

Dr. Yerren's ministry at Ferney was crowned with entire success; 
hut his plans were altogether changed by receiving, through the con- 
sistory of Bordeaux, a call from the vestry of the French Episcopal 
Church du St Esprit, in New York. Disregarding the many in- 
ducements offered to tempt him to remain, he at length sailed for 
the United States, and landed on our shores on the 27th of Septem- 
ber, 1827, after a passage of seventy-eight days. He was most 
cordially received by the members of the French congregation, and 
also by various leading citizens, such as Messrs. Gallatin, Astor, 
Prime, and others, to whom he bore letters of introduction. He be- 
came intimate with Rev. Dr. "Wainwright. then rector of Grace 
Church, and gave him French lessons, receiving English lessons in 
return, which language he acquired very rapidly. At first he medi- 
tated going back to France, as he found that he would have to take 
Episcopal orders, and furthermore, must wait until the expiration of 
one year. He finally concluded to remain, at the urgent solicitation 
of his friends, and in September, 1828, took the orders of deacon 
and priest Shortly after he was instituted in his new church, then 
in Pine street, opposite the Custom-house, and on the following Sab- 
bath preached his first sermon in New York before a large audience. 
His sermon was committed to memory, as was his custom, a practice 
which he continued for a year, but gave it up as the other clergy 
did not do it The church prospered under his charge, and was 
attended by many of the leading families of the city. He became 
professor of the French language and literature in Columbia College, 
but was obliged to resign in 1844 by reason of his pastoral and other 
duties. In 1830 he married the eldest daughter of Thomas Hamers- 
ley, Esq., a lady of great beauty and many accomplishments, who 
died in 1856. 

When Messrs. De Tocqueville and De Beaumont were in New 
York, they visited Dr. Verren often, and, as he had made himself 

598- 



EEV. ANTOINE VEEREK, D. D. 

thoroughly familiar with the principles of our government and the 
different political parties of the day, it would not be strange to sup- 
pose that many ideas found in De Tocqueville's " Democracy in 
America," were the result of these conversations. 

The church in Pine street was sold in 1831, and a new one, built 
of white mai-ble, on the corner of Franklin and Church streets, with a 
parsonage next door, was consecrated in 1834. In 1839 this church 
was destroyed by fire, communicated from the adjacent opera-house, 
and, after being re-built, was considerably damaged by fire about 
eleven months later, and again in 1859. Services were discontinued 
in the Franklin street edifice in 1862, and resumed in the very beau- 
tiful new church in West Twenty-second street, between Fifth and 
Sixth avenues. 

In 1831, Dr. Yerren corrected and revised the French translation 
of the Book of Common Prayer, then printed by J. & T. Swords, of 
this city, and later reprinted in Paris. He received the degree of 
D. D. from Hobart College, Geneva, New York, in June, 1860. On 
the laying of the corner-stone of the new church, Dr. Yerren de- 
livered an address, which has been printed, in which he traces the 
history of the .settlement of the Huguenots in America prior to the 
massacre of St. Bartholomew. "He has contributed various articles 
to the public press, among which was an able article, occupying 
three columns of the Herald, in regard to the " Rochester Knockings." 
He is at present engaged in writing a work of a philosophic-religious 
nature, which is likely to create a decided sensation in the learned 
w r orld. In 1857 he realized his ardent wish of again visiting the 
land of his birth, and hopes to renew the journey at an early date, 
and extend it to Alexandria and Palestine. 

As early as 1562, Admiral Coligny sent a colony of his Huguenot 
brethren to Florida, where they suffered from the Spaniards. After 
the massacre of some of them near St. Augustine, the limbs of a 
number were suspended to a tree, to which was attached the inscrip- 
tion — "Not because they are Frenchmen, but because they are 
heretics and enemies of God." A terrible retaliation was inflicted 
by Dominie de Gourgues, who placed over the corpses of the Span- 
iards the declaration — "I do not this as unto Spaniards or mariners, 
but as unto traitors, robbers, and murderers." 

Subsequent to the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and at a very 
early period in the history of New York, religious services were 
established by Huguenot emigrants. There were many of them in 

599 



EEV. ANTOINE VERREN, D. D. 

the counties of Kings, Queens, Richmond, Westchester, and Ulster, 
and they founded the two boroughs of New Roche! ie and Kings- 
ton. 

Dr. Yerren is a person of about the average height, and in cast 
of countenance, manners, and dress, bears the impress of his nation- 
ality. He has a large round head, and a prominent brow of marked 
intellectuality. In composure his face is very serious, but in the 
animation of conversation it lights up with cheerfulness and humor. 
He discharges his public functions with a graceful, easy dignity and 
an impressive solemnity. His sermons are always scholarly, and their 
delivery is characterized by the most careful and elegant oratory. 
At times he exhibits much intensity of feeling, holding his audience 
spell-bound. His long career is spotless of reproach, and his people 
feel for him an unusual love. He is very popular in all refined 
society. At an early period of his life he was very proficient in both 
vocal and instrumental music, and was an honorary member of the 
General Musical Society of Switzerland. He composed various 
ballads, which were popular in the salons at the time, beside many 
acting charades and proverbs, both in prose and poetry. He also 
excelled in drawing and painting — painted on ivory and in oil colors 
— and could model busts in clay. Before his arrival in this country 
he had read the French translations of Shakspeare,' Milton, Pope, 
Byron, &c, and had the acquaintance of the latter a,t Geneva. From 
all these circumstances it can readily be conceived that Dr. Verren 
has peculiar qualifications for agreeable social intercourse. 

He is an ardent admirer of the free institutions and liberality of 
religious opinions enjoyed in the United States. He denounces the 
bigotry of the Catholic countries of Europe, and declares that this is 
the only land beneath the sun for the true happiness of all conditions 
and sects. 

Illustrious among scholars, eminent among citizens, conspicuous 
among Christians, Dr. Verren has passed thus far on life's journey 
faithful in his obligations to God and to man. Admired and cher- 
ished in his own fair clime, he has made his talents useful and his 
virtues an example in the country of his adoption. 

600 



REY. HENRY YIDAYER, PH. D., 

RABBI OF THE CONGKEGATION B'NAI JESHIJ. 
RUN", NEW YORK. 




EY. DR HENEY YIDAYER was bom in 1833, in 
Poland. At five years of age he commenced Talmudical 
studies, and at thirteen he was considered quite proficient 
in the science of biblical philology. The principal rabbis 
Warsaw took occasion to commend him, and both by nat- 
ural talents and ambition, he was stimulated to diligent and 
deep investigation. In 1859, at the age of twenty-six, he came to the 
United States, and officiated as rabbi and preacher of a congregation 
in Philadelphia, but, by reason of impaired health, returned to Europe 
in 1861. From 1863 to January, 1868, he was in charge of a large 
Hebrew Congregation in St. Louis, when he removed to New York, 
to accept the position of preacher of the Congregation, B'nai Jeshu- 
run. 

This Congregation was the first Anglo -German Hebrew religious 
organization in the city, and for many years had the late distinguish- 
ed Rev. Dr. M. 'J. Raphall as rabbi and preacher. Some years since 
they removed from a large synagogue on Greene street to another, 
which they had erected, on West Thirty -fourth street. The infirm 
health of Dr. Raphall, caused him to retire from active service, though 
still remaining the rabbi of the congregation. Dr. Yidaver was then 
called as the preacher, and subsequently succeeded Dr. Raphall as the 
rabbi. 

We quote from the American Phrenological Journal, the following 
interesting account : — 

"The mode of Jewish worship practiced among the Jews, differs from that of 
every other system. The prayers are chanted in Hebrew. The ritual consists, for 
the most part, of the Psalms of David, and the supplications and prayers are mostly 
of great antiquity. 

"There are two rituals among the orthodox Jews, or rather throe ; two being 
branches of the same origin, the German and Polish, and the Portuguese. The ritu- 
als differ in minor points, the doctrines and teachings of the creed being identical; 

601 



REV. HE KEY VIDAVEE, PH. D. 

The pronunciation of the Hebrew is the test, the Portuguese being broader and more 
accurate. 

"The interior of the Jewish synagogue presents this aspect. The eastern end, 
opposite the entrance, is called the Mizrach, and is the locality occupied by the Ark. 
This Ark — the representative of the Ark of the Covenant which was with the Israel- 
ites in all their wanderings, and was preserved in their Temple until its destruction — 
contains a number of parchment scrolls of the Pentateuch. These scrolls are guarded 
with great zeal, and are handsomely and richly encased, and crowned with bells, and 
adorned with plates of silver. Every Sabbath, and on Monday and Thursday morn- 
ings, a scroll is taken from the Ark and the lesson of the day is read by the officiant. 
The Pentateuch is divided into fifty-four sections, one of which is read weekly, the 
cycle being completed every year. Some years containing less than fifty-four Sab- 
baths (the Jewish year is not always the same length, varying from 354 days to 386 
days, according to an established calendar), two of these portions are occasionally 
read together. 

"The center of the synagogue is occupied by the reading-desk, or Almemor, as it 
is termed. Here are seats for those engaged in the ceremonies, and here the reader 
stands supported at times by the elders or Parnassim. The reader looks toward the 
east, and chants the prayers in a peculiar oriental monotone. The psalms and hymns 
are sung by a choir, which is sometimes in front and sometimes behind the desk, in 
some synagogues, while in others the congregational system is still pursued. On 
either side of the desk are ranged two seats for the males, the other sex being placed 
in the galleries. 

" The service on a Saturday usually commences at nine. At ten the scroll of the 
Law is taken from the Ark, the ceremonies being quite imposing. The ritual is 
divided into morning and additional services, in commemoration of the daily and ad- 
ditional sacrifices lor the Sabbath. It concludes usually with a discourse in English 
or German. " 

Dr. Yidaver is of the medium height, with a dark complexion and 
black hair and beard. His head is of ample size, while the face is 
expressive of both the intelligence and force of character which are 
notable in the man. He preaches fluently in the English tongue. A 
favorite theme with him has always been Hebrew poetry, and it is to 
be seen in all his discourses, that he is moved by a most delicate, while 
ardent poetic fancy. Some of his illustrations and figures of thought 
are exceedingly beautiful and eloquent. At the same time his keen 
mind and practical observation make him a preacher of great power 
on both learned and common topics. Many of his Hebrew produc- 
tions in poetry and prose have been published. Gifted as a scholar, 
and zealous in all his duties among his people, he is regarded as one 
of the most useful of the Jewish clergy of the city. 

602 



REV. MARTIN R. VINCENT, D. D., 

PA8TOB OE THE CHURCH OF THE COVENANT 
(PKE8BYTERIANI, IVEW YORK. 




|EV. DK. MABVIN E. VINCENT was born at Pough- 
keepsie, New York, September lltli, 1834. He was 
graduated at Columbia College, New York, in 1854. Sub- 
sequently lie taught for eight years. During four yeara 
of the time he had charge of Columbia College Grammar 
*?q School, in connection with the late Professor Anthon, and 
for the last year had almost the entire direction of the institution. 
In 1858 he went to the Troy Methodist University, as Professor of 
Languages, where he remained four years, and then went for one 
year as pastor to the Pacific Street Methodist Church, Brooklyn. 
He had entered the Methodist Ministry two years before, in 1860, 
and his theological course throughout was private. On the 18th ol 
June, 1863, he became the assistant of the late distinguished Rev. 
Dr. Beman, of the First Presbyterian Church of Troy, where he con- 
tinued ten years. In the interval Dr. Beman died, when Dr. Vincent 
became the pastor, having shown himself most able and efficient in 
all his previous relations with the congregation. Having at length 
accepted a call to the Church of the Covenant, a leading Presby 
terian congregation of New York, he was installed on the 8th of 
May, 1873. His predessesor in the pastorship was the Eev. Dr. 
George L. Prentiss, who was the founder of the church. Dr. Vin- 
cent received his degree of D. D. from Union College about six 
years ago. He is the joint author, with Professor C. T. Lewis, of a 
translation of "Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament,"' in two 
large octavo volumes, of about nine hundred pages each, published 
in Philadelphia. He has also published various sermons and ad- 
dresses. 

Dr. Vincent is above the average height, with a well-proportioned 
figure. His head is large, and all his features are regular and ex- 
pressive. His manners are polite and agreeable. It is not difficult 

603 



REV. MAETJN E. VINCENT, D. D. 

to feel that you are on terms of friendliness and warm intimacy 
with him, for his cordiality in both manners and speech is of the 
most unmistakable character. His cheerful, kindly face ; his warm 
grasp of the hand, and his general affability and good nature, are 
all magnetic in their influence upon you. If you are a stranger, 
you feel that you have lost something in not knowing him before ; 
and if you are a friend, each interview draws closer the ties of fel- 
lowship. His nature is one of keen susceptibilities, turning with 
quick repugnance from that which is debased, but showing great 
strength of attachment for that which is noble and pure. Hence in 
his sentiments, in his desires, and in all his tastes, there are evi- 
dences of not only the highest type of manhood, but of the greatest 
individual virtue and piety. Penetrating to his heart, in your dis« 
section of his qualities, you find it gentle and true; and exposing 
the mind, you discover it to be governed alone by exalted principles 
in regard to every action of life. The influence of such a man is 
simply boundless, because the fascinations of such a character are 
universal. 

Dr. Vincent bears a high reputation as a theological scholar. 
Learned investigation has been the absorbing purpose of his exist- 
ence. Practical and active as he has been in his two professions 
as a teacher and minister, he has devoted himself to an amount of 
study such as few men, with the same daily claims upon them, care 
to attempt. But his heart and his ambition have been fully aroused 
in these efforts, and the result is that, though still a young man, he 
stands to-day with a reputation for learning which no man can 
question. 

In the pulpit he is always interesting and scholarly. He is a 
thinker, and his thoughts, which are keen and powerful naturally, 
are likewise strengthened from the resources of his erudition. He 
writes with a fine selection of language, never florid or exaggerated, 
but always pointed and expressive. Argument at his hands is the 
unfolding of his subject by a process of reasoning original to him- 
self, and he adorns and illuminates it at intervals by passages of 
glowing eloquence. He speaks in a distinct voice, and gives effect 
to every word by both tone and manner. A member of the profes- 
sion which is the one most intimately identified with the temporal 
and eternal welfare of mankind, he is giving to his duties the whole 
strength of his energies, and all the powers of an unusually gifted 
mind. 

604 



REV. EDWARD A. WASHBURN, D. D., 

RECTOR, OF CALVARY (EPISCOPALI CHURCH, 
NEW YOKK. 




lEV. DR. EDWARD A. WASHBURN was born in the 
city of Boston, April 16th, 1819. He pursued his early 
studies at the Latin School, and other academies of Boston, 
and was graduated at Harvard College in 1838. After 
this he pursued a course of theological studies at Andover 
IJq College and at the Divinity School of Yale College, and was 
graduated at the latter institution in 1842. During the same year he 
was licensed as a Congregational minister by the Worcester Associa- 
tion of Ministers, and preached about six months, but without taking 
the charge of any congregation. He entered the Episcopal commun- 
ion in 1843, and took orders as a deacon in the spring of 1844, 
Bishop Eastburn, of Massachusetts, officiating. He now went to St. 
Paul's Church, Newburyport, where he was admitted to the priest- 
hood bj the same bishop, in the following yeai*, and remained as 
rector of the church for seven years. This church is noted as being 
one of the oldest Episcopal churches in New England, having been 
founded by the Colonial Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in 
Foreign Parts. 

In 1852 Dr. Washburn went abroad, and passed two years in 
traveling in Europe and Asia, visiting the Holy Land. On his 
return he succeeded the present Bishop Coxe, of Western New York, 
as rector of St. John's Church, Hartford, where he remained some 
years. His next charge was St Mark's Church, Philadelphia, where 
he passed three years in a highly popular and useful ministry. In 
April, 1865, he became rector of Calvary Church, New York, again 
succeeding Bishop Coxe, who had been recently elected to succeed 
Bishop Delancey as Bishop of the Western Diocese of New York. 
Dr. Washburn received his degree of D. D. from Trinity College, 
about 1860. He has recently made another extended tour in 
Europe. Various sermons by him have been published. 

605 



REV. EDWARD A. WASHBURN, D. D. 

Calvary Church was organized on the 13th of September, 1836, 
and a small building was occupied on the corner of Fourth avenue 
and Thirtieth street, the Eev. Francis H. Cumming being the first 
rector. A large and costly stone edifice was erected in 1841 on the 
corner of Fourth avenue and Twenty-first street, which is now the 
place of worship of the congregation. Dr. Washburn is the seventh 
rector. The eloquent Dr. Hawks was for a number of years rector 
of this church. The church has two hundred and fifty families, four 
hundred members, and four hundred Sun ; ay school children. A free 
chapel is maintained by the congregation on East Twenty-third street 

In 1871, Dr. Washburn was a member of the deputation of the 
American branch of the Evangelical Alliance, who, with a number 
of European delegates, personally presented a memorial to Prince 
Gortschakoff, as the representative of the Emperor of Eussia, in be- 
half of religious liberty in that empire. 

During the conference of the Evangelical Alliance in New York, 
in October, 1873, Dr. Washburn read at one of the sessions a very 
able paper on " Faith and Eeason," from which we make the follow- 
ing extract : — 

" All theologians have their systems, hut Christianity is not a thesis, a theory, 
but a divine gospel in the life of man . It is not a symbol that shall preserve the 
birth of the incarnation, but the hope that it is kept alive in the heart of man. In 
so far as revelation asks for any truth over mental assent, it must appeal to our 
understanding. The question then is, what is the presence of reason ? There is 
not one mental faculty we call reason, and another mental faculty we call faith. 
Nothing can be worse for confusion than the doctrine of our modern theology, that 
there are truths which must be accepted with a comparative negation of our under- 
standings. We do not exalt the Word of God by appealing to the ignorance of man. 
We have too rnnny who hold that human folly is the best illustration of the Gospel. 
If we cannot know that any intellectual and moral conceptions of God are true, then 
we cannot know God, and yet this was the defense of Christianity against rationalism 
by an eminent English writer. What is it to believe ? I turn to the New Testament 
and I learn it from the lips of Christ. Paul, in his epistles, answers this. What is 
it to believe in Christianity ? It is not to accept any theory about Christ; it is to 
accept Him. It is to know that sin destroys the soul, and that Christianity gives it 
life. Faith requires the subjection of the conscience and the will. No theory of 
depravity can teach me until I have felt sin in myself. No theory or redemption can 
teach me the need that I feel for it in myself. There is what Pascal had finely 
called 'an interior reason,' in this matter. Reason may end in intellectual opinion, 
but faith ends in holiness. " 

Dr. Washburn is rather above the medium height, well-propor- 
tioned, and of an erect, active carriage. His head is of fair size, 
with small, regular features, and an intelligent, amia,ble expression. 
About the brow there is a very considerable development, and you 

606 



REV. EDWARD A. WASHBURN, D. D. 

at once see that he is a man of sterling intellectual capacity. In his 
manners he is genial, with a moderate amount of not unbecoming 
dignity. 

He is an eloquent, forcible preacher. A man of a quick, vigor- 
ous mind, and with a natural taste and enthusiasm in theological 
studies, his scholarly researches have not been more extensive and 
thorough than his own powers of elucidation are profound and 
brilliant. After his arguments there are no doubts, and after his ex- 
planations there is no mystery. He is not at all a dull, dry preacher, 
though his discussion is carried on in a methodical, argumentative, 
and totally unaffected style. He arrests you at the outset by a voice 
of great strength and emphasis, and this, and his manner, are as 
earnest as his well selected and pointed expressions. There is no 
redundancy of words, no falling off and feebleness in his argument ; 
but the whole is a terse, smooth, and elegant composition, delivered 
in a manner equally free from the slightest exception. In a word, 
he is grandly eloquent, without affecting to the high-flown and more 
fervid expressions of the language, and he is convincing by the in- 
herent force of the thought into which he molds all his ideas. He 
is comprehensive, solid, and practical, and at the same time shows all 
the fascinating characteristics which belong to scholarly imagination 
and oratory. 

Dr. Washburn has had a long and successful ministry. He has 
been brought in comparison with the oldest divines of his own and 
other denominations, in the large cities which have generally been 
the scenes of his labor, and always with the greatest honor to him- 
self Few men are more learned in theology, and probably none can 
better uphold the tenets of his own particular sect. He is in no sense 
an aggressive man in his disposition, but, on the contrary, he is 
liberal-minded in his views of all other sects ; still, he is swift and 
mighty when summoned to the defense of his beloved church. His 
mind seems to reach to a depth of masterly logic which none can 
fail to say is most profound, and his whole nature is aroused with an 
ardor which partakes of divine inspiration. His dignity of character, 
and the force and majesty of a pure, devoted life, are other qualifi- 
cations which he has for the Christian work. As an accomplished 
theologian, as an humble follower of the cross, and as a Christian 
guide to his fellow-men, he stands among the foremost of his clerical 
brethren, and is an honor to the denomination. 

607 



REV. LEYI S. WEED, D.D., 

PASTOR, OF THE JOHN STREET METHODIST 
CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




! EV. DR. LEYI S. WEED was born at Darien, Conn., May 
29th, 1824. His academic studies were pursued at the 
Delaware Literary Institute, Delaware County, New 
York. At an early date he began a course of theological 
investigations with Rev. S. S. Strong. In 1845 he became 
a local preacher of the Methodist Church, and passed three 
years in the Delaware District, comprising the Delaware, Prattsville, 
and Franklin Circuits. He joined the New York East Conference 
in 1848, and during 1848-9 was stationed at Southampton, Long 
Island; 1850, at Orient, L I. ; 1851, atSouthport; 1852-3, at Col- 
shook River; 1854-5, at Sands street Church, Brooklyn ; 1856-7, 
at Hartford ; 1858-9, at New Haven ; 1860-1, at Stamford ; 1862-3, 
at Sands street Church ; 1864, at SummerJield Church, Brooklyn. 
After filling other appointments, he is now stationed at the John 
street Church, New York In June, 1872, he received the degree of 
D. D. from Asbury University, Greencastle, Indiana. 

The first American Methodist organization was a society of five 
members, formed by Philip Embury, a German-Irish emigrant, in 
his own house, in New York, in 1766. The earliest Methodist 
Church in America was erected in John street, where the present 
church now stands, and was dedicated October 30th, 1768. Em- 
bury's house was in Park place, near Broadway. Afterward meet- 
ings were held in a rigging loft in Horse and Cart lane, now 120 
William street. In 1768 a piece of land, known as " Shoemakers 
Ground," was leased of Mary, the widow of Eev. Henry Barclay, 
of Trinity Church, which became the site of the John street Church, 
and was finally purchased two years later. All denominations sub- 
scribed to the fund, " To build a house for the worship of Almighty 
God after the manner of the people called the Methodists." Among 
those who gave were Robert Livingston, signer of the Declaration 

608 






REV. LEVI S. WEED, D. D. 

of Independence , and Duane, the first Mayor. The pastor of the 
church worked on the edifice as a carpenter. A rough dwelling was 
built for him in the yard. The church was unfinished for many 
years, having only a ladder to reach the gallery. Each person car- 
ried a light at night. As dissenters were not allowed to build a 
church, the difficulty was overcome by a suggestion of the official 
given in this form : " Put a fireplace and a chimney in your building," 
he said, " and it will be a dwelling, and not a church." Although the 
site is now in the strictly business portion of the city, religious ser- 
vices are regularly maintained. 

The first annual conference was held in Philadelphia in 1773, 
and consisted of ten preachers, who reported a membership of 1,160. 
The first general conference was held in Baltimore in 1784. 
Methodism on this continent, it will be seen, began about the same 
time that the colonies were striving for and attained their independ- 
ence. The infant Methodist Church had to depend very largely 
upon local preachers for the ministration of the Gospel. Wesley 
and Whitefield crossed the ocean several times, and traversed the 
seaboard of these United States, organizing societies, founding 
churches, and ordaining ministers and preaching the Grospel with 
great power. Their success was marvellous, notwithstanding they 
were received very coolly by their brethren of other denominations, 
and met with some opposition also. But the societies grew apace, 
and in 1784 Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury were ordained 
bishops or superintendents of the Methodist Church in America, 
and were sent hither. They had been members of the British 
Wesleyan Conference for some years before. Dr. Coke died at sea, 
in May, 1814, at the age of sixty-seven ; and Mr. Asbury died in 
Virginia two years later, aged seventy-one. They were succeeded 
by Richard Whatcoat, also a member of the British Wesleyan Con- 
ference, ordained a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church of 
America in 1800. He died in Delaware in 1806, aged seventy-one 
years. He was the last of the superintendents sent from the other 
side. 

The total lay membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church of 
America in 1870 was 1,367,134 ; and preachers, regular and local, 
21,234. Its churches number 13,373, and the value of its church 
edifices and parsonages is in round numbers $60,000,000. Its Sun 
day schools number 16,912 ; into which were gathered last year 
1,221,393 scholars and 189,412 teachers. Its benevolent contribu- 

609 



REV. LEVI S. WEED, D. D. 

tioris for the year amounted to about one million dollars. The 
annual collections for missionary purposes reach eight hundred 
thousand dollars. In 1866 over eleven millions of dollars were sub- 
scribed as a centenary offering. The educational institutions may 
be classified as follows : First, colleges and universities, of which 
there are twenty-seven scattered all over the country, from New 
York to California ; second, theological seminaries, of which there 
are six, one, however, being located in Frankfort-on-the-Main ; and, 
third, seminaries, female colleges and academies, of which there are 
sixty-nine located in twenty-four States of the Union. The number 
of students, male and female, instructed in those institutions during 
the last academic year was 16,300, and the number of instructors 
880. The aggregate number of volumes in the libraries of the uni- 
versities and theological seminaries was 171,789. The endowments 
of those two classes of educational institutions amount in the aggre- 
gate to $2,653,123, and the aggregate income to $243,834. The 
value of the buildings, etc., of all sorts, for the three classes of insti- 
tutions, is $5,857,939. In New York and Brooklyn and the imme- 
diate vicinity, there are eighty -two Methodist churches and thirty -two 
parsonages, of the aggregate value of $3,790,000. One of these 
churches is valued at $200,000, another at $140,000, and very many 
range in value from $50,000 to $100,000. Such is the wonderful 
growth of the Methodist Church in all its departments of effort from 
the little seed planted in John street in 1768. 

A writer in the Methodist furnishes the following very accurate 
description of Mr. Weed: 

"About ten years ago we first became intimately acquainted with Rev. L. S. 
Weed, at that time stationed at the Sands street Church, Brooklyn. He had been for 
six years, since he joined the Conference, filling some small appointments on Long 
Island and in Northern Connecticut. His introduction to the Sands street Church 
is an illustration how merit, in the Methodist system, will readily find its place of 
honor. He came the previous year to assist a brother in a series of meetings in that 
church, and his amiability, his devotion to his work, his talents, and his success in 
his labors made him naturally the choice of the people for their future minister. 
They were not disappointed in their expectations, and he gained a legitimate posi- 
tion for the employment of his talents. Since that time he has heen in demand for 
some of the chief stations of the Conference, and wherever he has been he has left a 
pleasant fragrance with his name. He is naturally confiding and unsuspicious in 
the professions of others, which, while it may expose him to imposition from the 
deceiving, only secures more effectually the confidence and esteem of his true 
friends. To those but little acquainted with him, he might seem unsocial and dis- 
tant ; but this, if it ever appears, is more the result of constitutional diffidence than 
of any lack in the warmth of his heart. To those with whom he is intimate, he is a 

610 



BEV. LEVI S. WEED, D. D. 

genial, taking friend. He had an opportunity while pastor of the Sands street 
Church — which it would be of great advantage to every minister to enjoy — to study 
and co-operate in the workings of a superior Sunday school, and we think it inten- 
sified and strengthened his impressions of the value of this institution as a means 
of saving the young and increasing the prosperity of the Church. In all his suc- 
ceeding appointments he has been renowned for untiring zeal and fidelity in this 
department of ministerial duty. Parents have honored him and the young people 
and children have loved him for it. He is less stately and grand than chase, 
earnest, and attractive in the pulpit. Ht does not take unbeaten oil to light up the 
sanctuary, for his sermons are the product of both genius and preparation, and they 
leave a saving influence on his congregations." 

Mr. Weed is about of the average height, with broad, square 
shoulders and erect carriage. His appearance gives evidence of 
abundance of physical stamina, and of a man not likely to be afraid 
of personal exertion. His head is of good size, but the features are 
small and delicate, particularly the mouth. He has light gray eyes 
of very full and clear expression. Without looking, in the strict 
sense, an intellectual person, he lias a brow of considerable breadth, 
and altogether a highly intelligent countenance. In conversation, 
his face has a lightsome, animated cheerfulness, and, in public speak- 
ing, it is vividly expressive of his emotions. He is ceremoniously 
polite and quite cordial in his manners, but there is at all times a 
quiet, natural, and becoming dignity. He converses with a measure 
of deliberation, but has a happy flow of words, which are always 
addressed calmly and understandingly to the best points of the sub- 
ject. While he has a great deal of serious religious reflectiveness, 
he has likewise a buoyant temperament, which renders him a cheer- 
ful, pleasant companion. 

Mr. Weed is one of the most promising preachers in the Meth- 
odist denomination. At present it is to be seen that he is in the pri- 
mary development of his powers. His mind is ripening and expand- 
ing with years and experience, to exercise a commanding intellectual 
influence. His advance in the ministry has been rapid, and marked 
at every step by unquestionable talent and worth. Commencing 
with the most substantial groundwork of character and study, he 
builds methodically, and to some extent slowly, but he is assuredly 
uprearing a proud and enduring monument of personal reputation 
and professional fame. He is an eloquent speaker; and still his 
force as a speaker does not come from mere bursts of declamation 
and feeling. These of course have their influence in arresting atten- 
tion and moving the heart, but there is throughout an array of logic 

611 



REV. LEVI S. WEED, D. D. 

which is quite as irresistible. His sermons are thoughtfully pre 
pared, and generally written out, but in the pulpit he uses a mere 
outline of the subject, and frequently introduces much new matter, 
suggested by the inspiration of the moment. Thus he is very little 
controlled by what he has written before him, and speaks with the 
ease and animation which belong more particularly to the extem- 
poraneous address. He has a great deal of well-conceived gesture, 
and he also moves about the pulpit with a self-possessed freedom. 
His voice is strong, and indeed somewhat harsh, but it has an impas- 
sioned fervor. In his more brilliant passages — when mind, heart, 
and eloquence are all in action — he holds his audience enchained. 
His tones are as ringing as those of the trumpet, his countenance is 
aglow with his high- wrought fe .'lings, and his attitudes are as expres- 
sive as his language. Grasping ' his subject with the powers of a 
superior mind, his utterances are made additionally impressive by 
his fascinating gifts as an orator. 

612 



REV. JOHN D. WELLS, D. D., 

PASTOR OF THE SOUTH THIRD STREET E> L1ES- 

BTTERIAN CHTJECH, BROOKLYN, (E. r».) 




I BY. DK. JOHN D. WELLS was born in Washington 
county, New York, October 25th, 1815. His early studies 
were at the Academy at Cambridge in his native county. 
He was graduated at Union College in 1839, and at Prince- 
ton Theological Seminary in 1844. In the same year he cora- 
ls menced his career as a Presbyterian minister at a mission church 
in Madison avenue, corner of Twenty-ninth street, which is now oc- 
cupied by the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church. He remained 
in this position until 1846, when his health failed, and he took charge 
of the parish school connected with the First Presbyterian Church, 
then under the pastorship of the Eev. Dr. Phillips. His talents, but 
more than all his earnest diligence in his Christian labors, had already 
brought him into prominence in his denomination, and he was now 
called to a higher field of duty. On the first Sunday in January, 
1850, he was ordained and installed as pastor of the South Third street 
Presbyterian Church in the Eastern District of Brooklyn, where he 
has continued up to this time, a period of twenty-four years. 

This congregation grew out of the First Presbyterian Church of 
the Eastern District, and was organized April 19th, 1844, with twenty- 
seven members. The first preaching was in a school house, corner 
of South Third and Fifth streets, and the first pastor, the Eev. P. E. 
Stephenson, was installed February 20th, 1845. The erection of a 
church edifice was soon commenced, and the completed building was 
dedicated May 10th, 1845. Mr. Stephenson was succeeded by the 
present pastor. There are now about three hundred members, and 
four hundred and twenty-five children in the Sunday school. The 
contributions during the year 1868 were twelve thousand dollars for 
congregational purposes, nearly nine hundred dollars for foreign mis- 
sions, and five hundred dollars for domestic missions. Three other 
flourishing churches in the Eastern District have been organized by 

613 



REV. JOHN P. WELLS, D. D. 

colonies from this congregation. Seventeen members founded the 
Ainsley street Church, and the same number organized a church in 
Throop avenue, where a mission had been established for the benefit 
of the rag-pickers, who live in that section. The original building 
used is now occupied by a large German congregation, which has a 
Sunday school of six hundred children, and another has been pro- 
cured for the Throop Avenue Presbyterian congregation. Twenty- 
seven members — the same number that withdrew from the First 
church — formed a new organization in one of the best improved por- 
tions of the Eastern District, and is known as the Ross Street Pres- 
byterian Church. Notwithstanding the loss of members by ".he 
mother church in founding these new organizations, and the contribu- 
tions of money made to aid in their establishment, that church has 
always successfully maintained its own importance both in point of 
members and wealth. In 1867, extensive alterations were made in 
the church edifice, and it is now one of the most tasteful buildings of 
the kind in the country. It is surrounded by well-kept grounds, and 
the approach is by wide, easily-ascended steps. The pews are well 
arranged, seating about one thousand persons, and the galleries, which 
are reached by neatly-constructed flights of stairs within the church 
proper, are low, and in excellent uniformity with the tastefulness and 
utility of the rest of the building. The interior is painted white, 
with a beautifully frescoed ceiling, and the carpets and upholstery 
are red, making contrasts that are very pleasing to the eye. The 
pulpit-desk is of black-walnut, designed and finished with rare taste 
and skill. It was a gift from the Sunday school children, and cost 
over two hundred dollars. The Sunday school room in the basement 
is also a model in its arrangement, and is divided into the principal 
school room, room for the infant class, and three rooms for Bible 
classes. Adjoining the church is a handsome parsonage. The whole 
property is valued at some sixty thousand dollars. 

Dr. Wells received his degree of D. D. from Union College about 
1866. 

He is under the medium height, of spare figure, but is a man of a 
great deal of physical energy and endurance. His head is not large, 
while it is proportional to his stature, and has very decried marks of 
intellectual power. The face in the lower part is narrow, but the 
upper portion of the head is very full, with a broad brow, which over- 
hangs his clear, expressive eyes. The nose and mouth are very re- 
gular, and the latter gives full evidence of the decision and resolu- 

614 



EEV. JOHN I>. WELLS, D. D. 

tion which are leading traits of his character. There is a great deal 
of blandness arid amiability expressed in his countenance, and you 
readily see that he is a kind-hearted, intellectual person, and one who 
wields a power and influence among men by the force of this intel- 
lectuality, a circumstance which naturally gives him the place of a 
leader and counselor. He is a frank, just man, and while his opin- 
ions are plain-spoken, they are sincere, and never intended to be un- 
kind. He has a cheerfulness and geniality to a degree greater than 
in most men of his profession, but at the same time there is no laying 
aside of the self-respect and dignity which rightly belongs to a clergy- 
man. He grasps you by the hand like a friend and a brother; he 
laughs with you, he discusses all the current topics with good-natured 
animation, and in every way he shows that he is alive to all the 
emotions which draw man to man in social intercourse ; but, after all, 
he has that reflectiveness, prudence and wisdom, which are the best 
testimonials of clerical dignity. With all classes, and with all ages, 
he is a popular and fascinating man. In his church among the adults 
his influence is unbounded, and in his Sunday school among the 
children he is greeted with the warmth of a true affection. 

If ever the right man was in the right place in the ministry, Dr. 
Wells is such a person. His temperament, his habits of mind, his 
convictions, and his choice of duty, his qualifications and his ambition 
are all most happily suited for the work. He is not restive in it, he 
does not look into other fields of professional effort and wish to be 
there instead of where he is, but he is emphatically a satisfied man, 
feeling himself in the right place, and doing his whole duty in it 
Great have been the fruits of the harvest in the fields of his tilling. 
Not one flourishing congregtion, but four, can attest to his diligence, 
his talents, and his success. Among the humble and among the rich 
he has planted the cross and shed the light of the gospel. In the 
winter and in the summer he has been at his post, toiling and plan- 
ning for the salvation of souls. He has made no noise about it, but 
he has toiled himself, and those who assisted him have considered it 
their highest honor to imitate his unbounded zeal. His ministerial 
work has not been a sensational movement, intended to give its author 
public fame, but it has been a self-denying task for the moral and re- 
ligious improvement of the community in which he lives. So quietly 
and unobtrusively has all this been accomplished, that men may even 
be heedless of the name of the man who more than any other is en- 
titled to the praise of this great work in founding new church or- 

615 



REV. JOHN" D. WELLS, D. D. 

ganizations ; but as the eye of God looks down upon spire after spire 
which has lifted itself heavenward, it is known in those realms 
whose patience, energy, and faith have been their foundation stones. 

Dr. Wells is an attractive preacher. In the first place, he is a very 
accomplished scholar ; and in the next, he is a thinker of no ordinary 
capacity. Hence his sermons are productions of brilliant, original 
thought. All questions of doctrine and of the true interpretation of 
the Scriptures are discussed with a clearness and learning which give 
great interest to all such disquisitions, and his treatment of other 
topics is equally thorough and effective. He speaks well, and has 
readiness of thought, but he makes no display either in matter or de- 
livery. It is a solid, practical, argumentative discourse, spoken for- 
cibly and yet tenderly. It has completeness in regard to a statement 
of the subject, and thoroughness in discussing it in all its bearings. 
And still there is nothing like dullness, but every part is vivid with 
intellectual power, and fervent with the sincere emotions of the heart. 

Such is the character and career of this eminent and efficient 
clergyman. He has done a great work, and done it well. His private 
life is consistent with his public career, and in the church and in 
society his influence is all-powerful. 

616 



REY. SULLIVAN H. WESTON, D. J)., 

ASSISTANT MINISTER OF TRINITY PARISH, 

OFFICIATING AT ST. JOHN'S CHAPEL, 

NEW YOBK. 




>EV. DE. SULLIVAN H. WESTON was born at Bristol, 
Maine, October 7th, 1816. He was graduated at the 
Western University, Middletown, Connecticut, in 1842, 
and pursued a private theological course. He was or- 
dained a deacon of the Episcopal church in Trinity Church, 
New York, in 1847, and priest in 1852. His connection with 
Trinity parish commenced at' the first date, and has continued with- 
out interruption up to the present time. In 1852 he went to Europe, 
where he spent some five months in travel. After his return the 
death of Bishop Wainwright occurred, and he succeeded to the vacant 
assistant ministership of Trinity Church, and became rector of St. 
John's Chapel. In 1858 he was elected Bishop of Texas, but de- 
clined. He received his degree of D. D. from Columbia College in 
1861. He was chaplain of the Seventh Regiment National Guard, 
and served two campaigns in the field during the late war. 
Among his published occasional sermons is one preached in the 
House of Eepresentatives on the 28th of April, 1861, the Sunday 
after the arrival of the. regiment in Washington, and another de- 
livered in St. John's Chapel, entitled the " March of the Seventh 
Regiment," showing the Providence of God in the heroic advance of 
the regiment to the endangered capital. A sermon on the "Sanctity 
of the Grave," preached at the period of the agitation in regard to 
the extension of Pine street through Trinity churchyard, created a 
decided sensation, and was published by order of a -special committee 
of Trinity Church Vestry. In 1872 he went to Europe for an ab- 
sence of six months granted to him. 

Some account of the vast and costly missionary work constantly 
going on in Trinity parish is appropriate in this place. There is a 
chapel on Governor's Island, established at the time of the war for 
the especial benefit of the soldiers stationed there, a free mission 

617 



REV. SULLIVAN H. WESTON, D. D. 

chapel in the Bowery, a free church in Thirty-ninth street, and foui 
others, these latter having an aggregate of between one and two 
thousand free sittings, and three or four entirely free services every 
day. None of the six city churches are ever closed summer or win- 
ter, and three of them have services twice a day throughout the 
year ; the work in most of them is largely missionary. A church in 
Hudson street and two free mission churches on the east side of the 
city are sustained by the contributions of. Trinity, ten thousand dol- 
lars having been given in 1873 to one of these mission churches. 
There are also a home for aged women, six sewing schools, five 
daily parish schools, and various benevolent societies. One of these 
societies spent in a single winter five hundred dollars for shoes alone. 
Three thousand children are under instruction in the Sunday and 
other schools of the parish. St. John's Guild directs its efforts to works 
of charity among the poor in the Fifth and Eighth wards. More than 
fifteen hundred children who had attended school in that vicinity 
were provided with clothing in the winter of 1873, and over four 
hundred families were cared for, at an expenditure of over ten thou- 
sand dollars. The Guild of St. Chrysostom cares for its poor and 
buries its dead. The Missionary Union numbers fifty members, and 
the Sunday School Teacher's Association maintains a library. The 
Guild of St. Paul has its field of mission in the lower wards. It 
maintains a reading-room which is opened every evening, and gives 
instructive entertainments to the poor. The Guild of St Augustine 
is another younger association. The Guilds of St Margaret and St 
Agnes, numbering thirty members each, and the Sisterhood of the 
Holy Cross, do a most noble work. In 1873 the juvenile Guild of 
St. Nicholas numbered seventy-five boys, and the Guild of St Agnes 
had ninety girls pledged to modesty and good behavior. 

Dr. Weston is a tall, finely proportioned, and gracefully appearing 
man. His head is large, round, and of the higher intellectual char- 
acteristics. He is bald, and his prominent, glistening forehead and 
otherwise handsome features attract observation in all places. His 
manners are extremely courteous, and he has but little reserve with 
strangers. He is a person of an extremely nervous, impulsive tem- 
perament He talks to you in one seat, and then throws himself into 
another ; he stands up and sits down ; he assumes first one position 
and then another — always talking, always busy, always making him- 
self agreeable to you. In the pulpit he is equally restless. There is 
a constant movement of his body and limbs, and he has far more 

618 






KEV. SULLIVAN H. WESTON, D. D. 

gesticulations than most of his Episcopal cotemporaries. He is al- 
ways in a hurry, and still he has time for everybody and everything. 
In his study there is the greatest confusion, but he says that he has 
a general knowledge of where every paper and book is to be found. 
His appointments crowd in upon him, and he seems half distracted 
for time, and after all keeps more of them, and finds more time to 
dispose of for the benefit of others, than almost any city professional 
man. He is heartily interested in the work of his parish. It is 
among the poor, the field of the Christian's noblest labor. The 
wealthy people worshiping at St. John's Chapel in an earlier day 
have gone to the upper sections of the city, leaving the altar to hum- 
bler followers of the same Redeemer. But the doors of the noble 
old temple stand open, every one is welcome, and there is the same 
talent in the ministrations, with probably more personal devotion to 
the fold. A congregation quite respectable in numbers attend, and 
the schools connected with the church have sixteen hundred children. 
These children are of every faith, and many of them come from the 
cellars and garrets of the lower wards, and since the establishment of 
the schools the statistics of morality and crime have shown a great 
improvement One of the schools is held on Saturdays for Industrial 
purposes, and the garments made are distributed as prizes to the 
children. At Christmas time of each year there is a general distri- 
bution of presents among all the scholars of the church. Dr. Weston 
gives a great deal of his personal attention to the school He is 
familiar to the children and beloved by them. His christenings are 
very numerous, reaching as high as fifty at one service. He also 
officiates at a large number of weddings and funerals, many of them 
being of persons disconnected with his church. He willingly, and 
in the true spirit of his calling, goes everywhere and to everybody, 
rejoicing to render any service, glad to do good. In many a place 
where wretchedness and misery abound, he gives consolation to the 
dying, and where all else is gloom and sin little children prattle of 
his kindness and teachings. "When I die," he remarked to us, "I 
would father have the children of the poor in the schools of St. John's 
come to my funeral, than all the rich men of New York." 

Dr. Weston is an impressive preacher. He discusses his subject 
with much thoroughness and force. His impulsiveness of manner, 
his quick and marked modulations of voice, are all peculiar with him, 
and add greatly to the effect of his delivery. He is fond of poetry, 

and sometimes reads long selections in his sermons with acceptable 

619 



REV. SULLIVAN H. "WESTON, D. D. 

taste. His voice is strong, while generally soft and pleasant to the 
ear. As be holds forth he has that appearance of intelligent and 
honest conviction, that outspokenness of mind and heart, and that 
just conception of individual duty and opportunity, that the hearer 
is drawn toward him by influences that are irresistible. He is want- 
ing in those delicate touches of sentiment and manner which so 
many of his profession display, for these are not so much found in 
the impulsive, fearless, independent nature. But in words less softly 
said, and in actions less gently performed, he exhibits so much man- 
liness, justice, and sincerity, that he as quickly wins the confidence 
and esteem. Brave for any duty, authoritative in speaking the com- 
mands of his Master, still he stands a coward in the paths of tempta- 
tion, and the humblest of the sowers of good seed in the dark places. 

620 




<&* 




hk&/ 




REY. JOSEPH WILD, D. D., 

PiSTOR OF THE SEVENTH AVENUE MET1IO. 
IDIiST CHURCH, BROOKLYN. 




)EV. DR. JOSEPH WILD was born at Summit, near 
Rochdale, in Lancashire County, England, November 
16th, 1834. His family is of the class of respectable 
small land owners of that section. He pursued his early 
idies at a school at Littleborough, and then at the academy at 
Carlisle City, and for two years at the University of Edinburgh, 
Scotland. After this he served an apprenticeship of three years with 
a civil engineer in Rochdale. He made some preparation to study 
medicine, but when twenty-one years of age embarked for the United 
States. Probably for a hundred years before no member of the 
family had left the country to reside. He reached New York on the 
17th of December, 1855. 

At sixteen he had entered the local ministry of the Primitive 
Methodists in England, and continued to preach up to the time of 
his departure, when he was a traveling preacher. Consequently he 
spent his first few years in the United States in traveling thi-ough the 
South, and other portions of the country, going as far west as 
Omaha, as a preacher and lecturer. His first regular settlement was 
over the Methodist Episcopal Church in the city of HamiLV/i}, On- 
tario, Canada, in 1857, where he remained one year. He then went 
to Concord, New Hampshire, and took a theological course of three 
years at the Biblical Institute, since removed to Boston. Returning 
to Canada, he was stationed for one year at Gloderich, on Lake Huron, 
and then he traveled a year in Europe. "When in England, he 
lectured frequently with much public approbation. In 1863 he 
settled at Orono, Canada, for two years, and next went to Belleville, 
Ontario, Canada, where he was occupied for seven years. 

His work embraced not only the pastorship of the Methodist 
church, but the chair of Oriental Languages in the Albert University 
at that place. He has been justly spoken of as the " father, guide. 

621 



REV. JOSEPH WILD, D. D. 

able defender and sustainer" of the University. He gave it the aid 
of commanding talents, of an energy in direction which was vital to 
its very existence, and contributed to its funds twenty-five thousand 
dollars out of the proceeds of his lectures for two years. Holding 
the three positions of professor, trustee, and treasurer, through his 
able efforts in each, the institution was advanced to a condition of 
prosperity from a very low ebb. When he was about to leave, one 
of his fellow-workers thus spoke at a meeting : " He (Dr. Wild) had 
so incorporated his efforts with the prosperity of the college, had so 
clearly presented, and so forcibly advocated his schemes, and had so 
vigorously led on, especially in her financial arrangements, that there 
is little wonder that some eagerly inquire, ' where shall we find a 
substitute as College Treasurer? ' : His leaving Canada drew forth 
universal expressions of regret and esteem. 

In May, 1872, he was a delegate to the General Conference, held 
in Brooklyn. During his sojourn in the city he preached once in the 
Seventh Avenue Methodist Church. On the election of the then 
pastor, Eev. Dr. Andrews, to the office of bishop, Dr. Wild was im- 
mediately invited to take the position. He accepted, and in the 
following June removed to Brooklyn. A public reception was ex- 
tended to him by the congregation, when he was warmly welcomed 
in an address. He preached his first sermon as pastor on Sunday, 
June 30th, 1872. 

The Seventh Avenue Congregation grew out of the Hanson Place 
Church, and now consists of between four and five hundred members. 
They purchased property in the best part of the city, where a chapel 
has been erected. Eighty thousand dollars have already been ex- 
pended, and a large church will be built at an early day. 

For several years Dr. Wild lectured throughout Canada, and to 
some extent in the United States. His series embraced highly 
original subjects, which were treated in a most scholarly and eloquent 
manner. Says an account of one of these lectures; "He held the 
attention of a large and intelligent audience enchained, as if by 
mesmeric spell, for fully an hour and a half, and when he intimated 
his intention of concluding his address, there arose from every part 
of the hall an eager shout 'go on.' " He prepared in all fourteen 
lectures, but lost eleven of them and his library by a fire in Belleville. 
He hai; since written three others, and has now six valuable lectures. 
The subjects are: "Babel," "What Will the World Come To?" 
"Porphyry Coffer," "144," " Spiritology, " and "Individuality." 

622 



REV. JOSEPH WILD, D. D. 

He received the degree of A.M. from Genesee College about 1866, 
and that of D.D. from the Wesleyan University of Ohio, in 1870. 
He was married in 1858 in Canada to Miss Mary Victoria Hixou of 
Bronte, and has three children. His father and mother are dead, but 
he has still living in England two brothers. The family was com- 
posed of five children, three sons and two daughters, the Dr. being 
the youngest member. Both of the sisters are dead, and one of the 
brothers is the Rev. B. Wild, of the Primitive Methodist Church in 
England. 

Dr. Wild is of the medium height, with a compact and erect 
figure. He has a large, finely molded head, with intelligent and 
amiable features. His eyes have a soft, kindly gaze, and a cheerful 
expression at all times pervades his countenance. He has a full 
and luxuriant dark brown beard, and long dark hair combed 
back of his ears. The clerical coat, which he always wears, is 
buttoned up tightly to the chin. In his manners he is exceedingly 
polite, and his address is easy and fascinating. His voice in ordinary 
conversation is mellow and pleasing, while in public speaking it has 
a scope from the most subdued articulation to the sonorous outbursts 
of eloquence which fill the largest building. He is a fluent talker, 
ever animated and cheerful, showing all who come about him that he 
is guided at once by the impulses of an able mind and a tender heart. 
In thf pulpit he is very effective. His personnel is striking, and 
he looks, in form and garb, to be a man suited for the sacred desk. 
Intelligence beams in his face ; there is a magic power in every tone 
of his voice, and every word, thought, and gesture go to complete 
the fascination. His sermons are learned, argumentative, practical,. 
and deeply religious. Study, experience in life, and above all, his 
interest in the salvation of his race, are the basis of his pulpit 
themes. It is his habit to write out at least one sermon each week. 
He uses notes in the pulpit, but he does not confine his remarks to 
them. He memorizes with much facility! particularly in his lectures. 
He is free and forcible in his gestures. 

The power of learning, the gift of eloquence, the graces of per- 
sonal virtue and piety, are the qualities which justly belong to this 
eminent divine. They have already made their mark in wide fields 
of intellectual and religious effort, and the promise of the future is 
still more brilliant. True to his faith, and inspired by the spirit of 
the progressive age in which he lives, the church and society at large 
will receive continued benefit from his talents and example. 

623 



REY. WILLIAM R. WILLIAMS, D. D., 

IATE PASTOR OF THE AMITY 8TBEET BAP- 
TIST CHURCH, NEW YORK. 




IEV. DR. WILLIAM R WILLIAMS was bom in New 
York, October 14th, 1804. His father, the Rev. John 
Williams, was pastor of the Oliver Street Baptist Church 
for a period of twenty-seven years. He was graduated at 
Columbia College with distinguished honor in 1823, and 
ibsequently studied law in the office of the late Peter A. Jay, 
Esq. He became a member of the Oliver Street Church, then under 
the charge of Rev. Dr. Cone, and was ordained to the ministry at 
the constitution of the Amity Street Baptist Church. This was De- 
cember 17th, 1832, and he continued with the same congregation 
for a number of years, though repeatedly solicited to accept profes- 
sorships in different colleges and seminaries. He is not now in the 
active ministry. He entered the field of religious authorship while 
still practicing law, by a biographical notice of his father, and a 
most elaborate address, entitled " Conservative Principles in our 
Literature." A volume of " Miscellanies," one on " Religious Pro- 
gress," a series of lectures on the " Lord's Prayer," and various ser- 
mons and addresses "have given him an undisputed rank among 
the first preachers and religious writers of the day." 

Says another : " The leading characteristics of Dr. Williams are 
fervor and depth of piety, a liberal and catholic spirit ; unaffected 
modesty and humility ; simplicity and meekness, coupled with in- 
flexibility of principle ; studious and retired habits ; profound and 
extensive erudition ; uncommon powers of analysis ; conscientious 
and mental abstraction; the uniform and complete command of his 
intellectual resources, and a general harmony and consistency of 
character. He is not much seen in public gatherings, but no man's 

624 



REV. "WILLIAM R. WILLIAMS. D. D. 

opinions have greater weight with his denomination. His library 
is his home. This is very extensive, and embraces a great variety 
of works in all the principal languages, most of which be reads with 
ease. The number of volumes is about nine thousand, many of 
which are exceedingly rare and valuable." 

An able critic says of Dr. Williams' writings : " They display 
everywhere an intellect equally active and vigorous ; a mind that 
makes its own observations, that draws its own conclusions, and uses 
its large stores of information, not as substitutes, but as materials for 
thought. His mind never rests upon the surface of his facts, but 
pierces below to the principle which they embody ; and it is in il- 
lustration of that principle that they marshal themselves on his page. 
But along with a large fund of knowledge and power of thinking of 
a high H'der, Dr. Williams' writings evince an uncommonly bril- 
liant and fervent imagination. This fuses and blends into harmony 
all his powers and acquisitions, imparts to his pages ever fresh life 
and interest, and causes them to teem with the most striking and 
beautiful imagery. Indeed, Dr. Williams thinks in metaphor ; his 
figures are not after- thoughts, superinduced upon his style for illus- 
tration or embellishment ; they are wrought into the very texture of 
thought ; they are the form, the body which it naturally and almost 
necessarily assumes." 

When Dr. Williams was preaching in Amity street, we gave the 
following description of him : " In the pulpit Dr. Williams appears 
a plain," unassuming, but not unattractive man. Indeed, you are at 
once struck with the gentle, meek, and almost sad expression of his 
face. He stands an image of one of those penitential Christians sigh- 
ing and sorrowing for the bright hereafter. His face has many 
furrows, his voice is feeble and tremulous, and his eyes are evidently 
not unused to tears. Then he is so thoroughly devotional, and as he 
reclines his head during the singing before the sermon, seemingly in 
prayer for strength to perform his pious task, the sensitive, devo- 
tional heart is drawn to him by an irresistible attraction. When the 
aged Christians of the congregation look upon this man. so given up 
to the work of salvation, so insignificant and debased in his own 
sight, while so exalted in conscientious, earnest piety, they can but 
think how close he walks to the character and teachings of the suf- 
fering, uncomplaining KTazarene. He is certainly extraordinary in 
faithfulness of life, in a childlike simplicity of nature, and as an ex- 
ample of Christian hope and zeal. His long, patient, self-denying, 

625 



EEV. WILLIAM E. WILLIAMS, D.P. 

God-adoring years have not only won him the highest place among 
his fellow Christians, but assuredly ' treasures in heaven, where nei- 
ther moth nor rust doth corrupt.' He is of the middle size, and his 
face is pale and thin. His cast of countenance is reflective and in- 
tellectual. 

" The singing having concluded, he raises his head. ' The text is 
announced in almost a whisper,' correctly states another, ' the hands 
grasp the ends of the cushion where lies the open Bible, or are lifted 
ever and anon, as the warmth increases ; the head is lowered toward 
the neatly-written manuscript ; and thus, with a quiet ease, in a low 
and feeble voice, the discourse goes forward in one unbroken thread 
of golden thought to its close. 

" You must pay strict attention to follow the sermon, as at times 
the voice of the preacher is almost inaudible. There are moments 
when it rises into a rich-toned volume, but it is usually greatly sub- 
dued, and frequently falls to indistinctness. His shoulders sink 
down to a level with the Bible, one arm is stretched across his manu- 
script, and his eyes are brought into very close scrutiny with it He 
seldom changes this position during the delivery. 

" The sermon is certainly worthy of all attention. It is the pro- 
duction of a scholar and the appeal of a true Christian, All along 
through it there are the traces of his extensive learning, not only giv- 
ing substance and vigor to the argument, but taking forms of rare 
eloquence. Then there is such solicitude apparent in his desire to 
interest, instruct, and convert, and such pathos in his tones, that the 
words seem as if they would be followed by tears. This tenderness, 
this thorough contrition of spirit, this zeal in the labor of regenera- 
tion, and this absorbing piety appear throughout, and are of the 
most affecting character. 

" Fashion, with its glitter, draws not near this altar ; pomp in re- 
ligious services takes no awe-inspiring part in these exercises ; showy 
oratory is allowed no display in these ministrations : but it is a gath- 
ering of humble Christians, a worship of the penitential heart, and 
the preaching of a man whose only ambition is to exert his talents 
and efforts in doing good. Among the clergy there are few, if any, 
of such devotedness to duty as Dr. Williams, as there are few of a 
life so void of offense and of ability so profound. Humble in his 
feelings, and keeping aloof from the conflicts of men, he is passing 
his peaceful days, careless of earthly fame, but hopeful of the celes- 
tial crown." 

626 



REV. JAMES D. WILSON, 

pastor of the central presbyterian 
church, new yorki. 




)EV. JAMES D. WILSON was born at Spring Mills, 
Center county, Pennsylvania, April 3d, 1836. His early 
studies were at the district school, and at an academy in 
Juniata county, and another at Lewisburg. He was grad- 
uated at Amherst College in 1858, and at the Union Theo- 
logical Seminary, New York city, in 1862. Immediately after 
the close of his collegiate course he had accepted a position as a 
teacher in the academy at Lewiston, where he remained for one year. 
After leaving the seminary, his first position was as a stated supply 
for the pulpit of the Spring Street Presbyterian Church, New York. 
He thus remained from September, 1862, to July, 1863, when he 
was installed as the regular pastor of the congregation, and continued 
in its service until January, 1869. He went to the Spring Street 
church when its fortunes were at a low ebb. However, he not only 
saved the church from dissolution, but placed it on a strong basis for 
the future. A new congregation was drawn in, of which a large 
number were newly-converted young men. During Mr. Wilson's 
ministry more than four hundred persons united with the church. 
Eevivals were frequent, and the history of the church at this period 
is full of most astonishing interest. Mr. Wilson's relations with this 
congregation were most happy. "Never," he says, "during my 
whole ministry with that people was one word said by man or woman 
that gave me anything but pleasure." However, he required rest 
from his excessive labors, and he accepted a call to the Central 
Presbyterian Church. He entered upon his new duties February 
28th, 1863. 

The Central Presbyterian Church was originally in Broome street. 
The congregation was organized with four members, January 8th, 
1821, by the Eev. Dr. Patton. He resigned in 1839, and was suc- 
ceeded by the Rev. Dr. William Adams, in 1840. In 1853 Dr. 

627 



REV. JAMES D. WILSON. 

Adams and a large portion of the congregation went out, and formed 
the Madison Square Church. At the same time a union was formed 
with the remaining members and the Pearl street congregation, under 
the pastorate of the Eev. Dr. Wood, who became settled over the 
new organization. The Pearl street congregation was a colony from 
the First Associate Eeformed Church, in Cedar street, Rev. John M. 
Mason. A church edifice was erected on Magazine (now Pearl) street, 
in 1797. Dr. Mason officiated at both places. In 1804 the new 
church became independent, taking the title of the Second Associate 
Eeformed Church, and the Eev. Robert Forrest was called as the first 
pastor. For a long period this congregation was one of the most 
flourishing and important in New York. The building of the Central 
congregation was destroyed by fire in August, 1854, and another 
edifice was erected at a cost of about thirty thousand dollars, and de- 
dicated iu May, 1855. Dr. Wood resigned in 1860, and in 1862 the 
Eev. Mr. Dunn was called, who in turn was succeeded by Mr. Wilson 
in 1869. During Mr. Dunn's ministry, about 1865, it was determined 
to sell the property in Broome street, and remove up-town. A pur- 
chaser was found in the Merchants' Union Express Company, who 
wanted it for stables, and the sum of about sixty-five thousand dollars 
was obtained for the ground and building. A debt of eight thousand 
dollars on the property was paid, and the balance of the money was 
duly invested. Lots were bought up-town, which it was subsequently 
thought would not answer, and they were sold at an advance of some 
nine thousand dollars. A site was then secured of eighty feet on 
Fifty-seventh street and fifty feet on Fifty-ninth street, which is one 
of the finest localities near the Park for a church edifice. A chapel 
was put up on Fifty-seventh street at a cost of about twenty-thousand 
dollars, in which the services are now held. It will seat five hundred 
people. Previous to the erection of this building the services were 
held in a public hall. There are about two hundred and twenty 
members, and the congregation is gradually growing, as the new 
district occupied by them fills up with people. 

Mr. Wilson is about of the medium height, well proportioned, 
and very active. His head is long, with a narrow chin, but is full 
and largely developed in the upper portion. The brow is both broad 
and high, and his intellectual capacity cannot be doubted for a mo- 
ment. His manners are attractive in the extreme. They are free 
and frank with all persons. You are placed on the most agreeable 
footing without delay, and are entertained with a genial, affable flow 

628 



REV. JAMES D. WILSON. 

of conversation. He has in his disposition all the requirements to 
make a popular man with all ages and classes. And still he does not 
sacrifice any of the circumspection which is necessary in a clergy- 
man. 

Mr. Wilson is in the fullest sense a worker. Activity of mind 
and body with him is his most happy condition. He never requires 
any spur, but is up and doing at all times and in all places. His 
judgment is excellent in the ministerial labor, and hence his great 
success. He never seems to come in conflict with either the opinions 
or the interests of others, but either yields to others or they do to him. 
He has no vanity in anything personal to himself, is no quibbler on 
punctilio or dignity, but he shows all who come in contact with him 
that he wants to do the most possible work and the most good in the 
most effective way. Such a character as this makes other men 
ashamed of small things, of personal pride and ostentation, and it sets 
them to work with an earnest, unselfish spirit, which accomplishes the 
best results. Again, Mr. Wilson is a worker with practical as well as 
scholarly weapons. He regards scholarship and oratory in the exer- 
cise of the ministerial functions as very potent agencies, but they are 
the least of his reliances. He holds a closer relationship with his 
people than any of these mere pulpit attractions can give him. When 
he looks over his congregation he knows the faces, the disposition, 
and the circumstances of all those before him. He has been to their 
homes, he has joined in their joys and their sorrows, he has witnessed 
their abundance, and he has given to those who were humble and 
poor. In sickness he has been a watcher, and in death a mourner. 
In works of charity, in "going about doing good," in giving personal 
encouragement and advice in regard to social and religious affairs, 
and in seeking in every way that a pastor should to promote the 
'welfare of his flock, and the increase of the church — in all of these 
he has made it his constant effort to do his part conscientiously and 
thoroughly. 

As a preacher Mr. Wilson is very effective. He has natural 
powers as an orator, speaking with fluency at all times. He writes 
in good plain English, to which he gives most emphasis in his earnest 
and oftentimes impassioned delivery. While he is sufficiently argu- 
mentative to suit the most logical, he has a great deal of imagination 
and pathos. His feelings are always in his subject, and he shows it 
in the most vivid manner. He has an agreeable, well-modulated 
voice, and his gestures are all appropriate and graceful. 

629 



APPENDIX. 



Professor E. D. Hitchcock, in his work, "Analysis of the Holy Bible," 
states that in the whole world there are about three thousand different lan- 
uages, and about one thousand different religions and sects. la the United 
States there are more than fifty religious denominations, five of which may 
be found in all the States. The Episcopalians date from 1607, in Virginia; 
Roman Catholics from 1633, in Maryland; Baptists from 1639, in Bhode 
Island; Presbyterians from 1684, in Maryland; and Methodists from 1766, 
in New York. The most numerous are the Methodists, Baptists, and Presby- 
terians. 



A census table, showing the condition of the various religious denom- 
inations in the United States, during twenty years : — 

Years. Membership. Churches. Property. 

Aggregate of all the churches — , 

1850 14,234,825 38,061 $87,328,801 

1860 19,128,751 54,009 171,397,932 

1870 21,665,062 63,082 354,483,581 

Regular Baptists — 

1850 3,247,069 9,376 11,020,855 

1860 3,749,551 11,221 19,799,378 

1870 3,997,116 12,857 39,229,221 

Other Baptists — 

1850 60,142 187 153,115 

1860 294,667 929 1,279,736 

1870 363,019 1,105 2,378,977 

Christian — 

1850 303,780 875 853,386 

1860 681,016 2,067 2,518,045 

1870 865,602 2,822 6,425,137 

Congregational — 

1850 807,335 1,725 8,001,995 

I860 956,351 2,234 13,327,511 

1870 1117,212 2,715 25,069,698 

Protestant Episcopal — 

1850 643,598 1,459 11,375,010 

1860 847,296 2,145 21,665,098 

1870 991,051 2,601 36,514,549 

Evangelical Association — 

1870 193,796 641 2,301,650 

631 



APPENDIX. 

Years. Membership. Churches. Property. 
Friends — 

1850 286,323 726 1,713,767 

I860 269,084 726 2,544,507 

1870 224,664 662 3,939,560 

Jewish — 

1850 18,371 36 418,600 

I860 34,412 77 1,135,300 

1870 73,265 152 5,155,234 

Lutheran — 

1850 539,701 1,231 2,909,711 

I860 757,637 2,128 5,385,179 

1870 977,432 2,776 14,917,747 

Methodists — 

1850 4,345,519 13,302 14,825,070 

I860 6,259,799 19,883 33,093,371 

.1870 6,528,209 21,337 69,854,121 

Moravians — 

1S50 114,988 344 444,167 

I860 20,316 49 227,450 

1870 25,700 67 709,100 

Mormons — 

1850 10,880 16 87,780 

1860 13,000 24 891,100 

1870 87,838 171 656,750 

Swedenborgians — 

1850 5,600 21 115,100 

1860 15,395 58 321,200 

1870.. 18,755 61 869,700 

Presbyterians (regular)— 

1850 2,079,765 4,826 14,543,789 

I860.. 2,088,838 5,061 24,227,359 

1870 2,198,900 5,683 47,828,732 

Presbyterians (other) — 

1850........ 10,189 32 27,500 

1860 477,111 1,345 2,613,166 

1870 499,344 1,388 5,436,524 

Dutch Beformed — 

1850 182,686 335 4,116,270 

1860 211,068 440 4,453,850 

1870 227,228 468 10,359,255 

German Beformed — 

1850 160,932 341 993,780 

1860 273,697 676 2,422,670 

1870.. 431,700 1,145 5,775,215 

632 



APPENDIX. 



Years. Membership. 

Catholic — 

1850 667,863 

1860 1,404,437 

1870 1,990,514 

Second Advent — 

1850 5,250 

1860 17,123 

1870 34,555 

Shakers — 

1850 5,150 

1860 5,200 

1870 8,850 

Spiritualists — 

1860 6,275 

1870 6,970 

Unitarians — 

1850 138,067 

1860 138,213 

1870 155,471 

United Brethren in Christ — 

1850 4,650 

1870 265,025 

Universalists — 

1850 215,115 

1860 235,219 

1870 210,884 



CJiurches. 

1,222 
2,550 
3,806 

25 

70 

140 

11 
12 
18 

17 
22 

245 
264 
310 

14 
937 

530 
664 

602 



Property. 

9,256,758 
26,744,119 
60,985,566 

11,100 
101,170 
306,240 

39,500 
41,000 
86,900 

7,500 
100,150 

3,280,822 
4,338,316 
6,282,675 

18,600 
1,819,810 

1,778,316 
2,856,095 
5,692,325 



Since 1830 the four leading Protestant denominations of the city of 
New York compare as follows: — 

Years. Presbyterian. Episcopal. Baptist. Methodist. 

1830 8,926 2,806 2,931 3,955 

1840 9,412 3,299 4,936 6,175 

1850 10,815 7,374 8,127 7,562 

1860 14,342 8,416 9,211 9,832 

1870 15,842 11,209 11,203 10,621 

1872 15,772 14,163 11,252 10,322 



The following table shows the proportion of the leading denominations 
to the population of New York City, at periods embracing an interval of 
forty years : — 

Years. Presbyterian. Episcopal. 

1830 Iin23 1 in 70 

1870 1 in 53 1 in 84 

633 



Baptist. 


Methodist. 


lin 67 


lin 49 


lin84 


lin 89 



APPENDIX. 



The contributions of the leading denominations in New York for 1872, 
were as follows: — 

Presbyterians, §863,000; Episcopalians, $747,000; Baptists, $190,000; 
Methodists, $212,000. 



A table, exhibiting the progress of church building and extension, in 
the city of New York, during thirty-two years : — 

1840. 1850. 1860. 1872. 

Baptist 15 28 32 30 

Congregational 2 10 5 5 

Dutch Keformed 8 15 21 18 

Episcopalian 26 42 49 71 

Friends 5 4 3 3 

Lutheran 3 5 7 14 

Methodist Episcopal 5 31 32 40 

Methodist (African) 2 4 5 4 

Presbyterian 19 32 43 40 

Roman Catholic 7 18 29 41 

Reformed Presbyterian 6 2 5 4 

Synagogues 3 10 17 26 

Unitarian 1 2 2 3 

Universalist 1 3 4 5 

United Presbyterian. 1 4 4 7 

Miscellaneous 9 12 20 11 

Total 113 222 278 332 



Statistics of the four leading denominations in Brooklyn : — 

Years. Membership. Churches. Ratio to Population. 

Presbyterians — 

1865 4,937 16 1 in 62 

1870 5,972 22 1 in 52 

Episcopal — 

1865 6,211 23 1 in 50 

1870 7,127 34 1 in 55 

Baptist — 

1865 4,613 17 1 in 67 

1870 6,812 20 1 in 59 

Methodist — 

1865 7,535 26 1 in 47 

1870 9,035 34 1 in 42 



Interesting statistics in regard to Missions: — 

The American Board of Missions has been established about sixty-three 
years. During the first sixty-two years it has received a grand total of 
$14,183,248 65, or an average per year of $229,084 65. Up to the year 1868 

634 



APPENDIX. 

the number of converts was 325,580. The cost of each convert was there- 
fore $467 56. The total number of laborers in the mission field was 1,278. 
The number of missionaries was 538; of missionary churches, 173, which 
gave an average of 57 members and 7 laborers to eoch church. During six- 
ty-one years there was an annual average gain of 388 members. By statistics 
taken from the Encyclopedia Britannica to 1857, and from statistics furnished 
by Dr. Lowry and Dr. Anderson, from that year to 18S8, the total amount 
spent on missions by the supporters of the Protectant faith was $47,276,339. 
The expenses of the missions for the eleven years show that the cost of each 
convert was $1,311. The cost to the Missionary Union (American Baptist) 
per convert baptized is $55; the cost to the Long Island Association is $441; 
to the New York Association, $572; to the Black Biver Association, $278; 
an average of $430. The largest Asiatic mission costs $43 per convert bap- 
tized; to the largest church in Brooklyn the cost was $1,045; to the largest 
church in New York $840; to the largest church in the Black Biver Associa- 
tion, $400; an average of $760. The Asiatic Mission that baptized the 
largest number cost $24 per convert baptized; to the church in Brooklyn 
that baptized the largest number the cost was $154; to the church in New 
York, $110; to the church in the Black Biver Association, $101; an aver- 
age of $115. These figures refer solely to Baptist associations and churches 
at home and abroad. 

635 



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